Colombo, 22 September (H.S.): Sri Lanka's High Court on Tuesday convicted 14 of the 24 accused in the main case relating to the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people.

A three-judge Trial-at-Bar bench of the Colombo High Court delivered its verdict after a trial that lasted nearly five years. The charges against the accused included murder and conspiracy to commit terrorism.

The court acquitted nine of the accused, while another defendant was found guilty on only some of the charges. The court said sentencing would be announced separately.

The case involved 23,270 charges filed against the accused in connection with the Easter Sunday attacks. The trial was conducted before Judges Navaratne Marasinghe, Ramanathan Kannan and Sujeewa Nissanka. The prosecution had presented evidence from hundreds of witnesses during the proceedings.

The attacks took place on April 21, 2019, targeting churches and hotels in several parts of Sri Lanka. The attacks were among the country's deadliest terrorist incidents.

The verdict marks a major development in the long-running criminal proceedings against those accused of involvement in the attacks.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar