Sri Lanka Easter attack convicts appeal record jail terms

Fifteen men convicted over Sri Lanka's Easter bombings, the nation's deadliest attack on civilians, will appeal their record jail sentences, a lawyer representing some of them said Wednesday.

The men, from Sri Lanka's minority Muslim community, were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole by the Colombo High Court on Tuesday after a five-year trial.

Suicide bombers struck three luxury hotels and three churches on April 21, 2019, killing 279 people including 45 foreigners. Investigators blame the attack on a homegrown Islamist extremist group.

Court officials said the convicts got sentences ranging from 200 to 260 years, with an average of 220 years each. The judgement ran over 3,000 pages.

Defence lawyer Kaneel Maddumage said they would appeal the convictions as well as the record terms in the Supreme Court.

"Some of the defendants are not represented by counsel,but I requested on behalf of all the convicts that they be provided with copies of the proceedings to file their appeals," Maddumage said.

The High Court ruled that 14 of the accused were guilty of all charges, including murder, conspiracy to commit terrorism and possessing firearms under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

A 15th defendant was found guilty of only some of the charges. Nine others were acquitted.

The men were accused of aiding and abetting the suicide bombers who carried out the violence, which was the worst ever terror attack against civilians in Sri Lanka.

Among those convicted on all charges was Mohamed Naufar, whom prosecutors identified as the ringleader who provided support to the eight-member suicide squad that carried out the bombings.

It was the first criminal prosecution directly linked to the coordinated bombings, though a former police chief and an ex-security chief were sentenced to death in July for criminal negligence.

They were accused of failing to prevent the attacks despite prior intelligence warnings.