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The
civil case brought by families of the victims charged that lax
security led to the attacks which targeted three churches and
three luxury hotels.
The church itself was not party to the lawsuit. But Cardinal
Malcolm Ranjith told reporters he hoped the case would be
escalated against former president Maithripala Sirisena and his
top security officials.
"Based on this verdict we expect this case to be taken forward,"
Ranjith said. "Justice for the victims will only happen when the
entire truth comes out. This decision is just a milestone in
that journey."
On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered Sirisena, his police
chief, two senior intelligence officials and a senior defence
ministry official to pay a total of 310 million rupees (about
$850,000) from their personal funds as compensation to the
families of the victims of the bombings who had brought the
civil case before the court.
The court said the former president and his officials had failed
to prevent the attacks, among the worst in Sri Lanka's turbulent
history.
Several tourists were also killed and more than 500 people
wounded, mostly belonging to the island’s minority Christian
community.
Sirisena and the others involved in the case have made no public
comment on the ruling and he did not respond to Reuters requests
for reaction.
In November, Sri Lanka put on trial 24 men accused of carrying
out the attacks. Police filed over 23,000 charges against those
suspects, including conspiring to murder, aiding and abetting
the attacks, and collecting arms and ammunition.
The group includes Mohammad Naufer, who officials say
masterminded the attacks and is linked to Islamic State.
(Editing by Miral Fahmy and Angus MacSwan)
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