The Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar has ordered that the case against former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and former Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundera be called again on June 12 for the submission of arguments.
The two senior former officials face charges including criminal negligence of duty for allegedly failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday terrorist attacks despite prior intelligence warnings of a planned strike. The coordinated suicide bombings of churches and hotels on April 21, 2019 killed more than 260 people.
The cases were taken up on Wednesday before a three-judge bench comprising Justices Priyantha Liyanage, Viraj Weerasuriya and Thilakaratne Bandara, Ada Derana reported. Both accused appeared in court during the hearing, after which the bench fixed June 12 for arguments.
The proceedings are the latest stage in the long-running prosecution of the two officials, who were in charge of national security and policing at the time of the attacks. Fernando earlier testified that then-President Maithripala Sirisena had prior knowledge of the threat and that intelligence chief Nilantha Jayawardena had concealed it.
The court date falls amid sustained scrutiny of the wider investigation. The United Nations renewed its call for credible results around the seventh anniversary of the attacks, and prosecutors have separately named former intelligence chief Suresh Salley as an alleged key figure in the conspiracy.
