Overview

• The National Police Commission voted on July 19 to remove Nilantha Jayawardena, former head of the State Intelligence Service, for failing to act on warnings ahead of the April 2019 bombings.
• A disciplinary inquiry led by a retired judge found Jayawardena guilty on seven counts of negligence and dereliction of duty for ignoring an alert 17 days before the coordinated church and hotel attacks.
• The commission’s ruling implements a 75 million rupee fine to be paid to victims, in line with a Supreme Court decision in January 2023 mandating compensation for survivors.
• President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s administration has pledged to broaden its probe into intelligence lapses that allowed the ISIS-linked National Thawheed Jamaat to carry out Sri Lanka’s deadliest terror strike.
• Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church has urged criminal prosecution of Jayawardena amid allegations that the SIS under his watch attempted to conceal jihadist activity before the blasts.