Easter Sunday bombings: 25 accused to stand trial

The case filed against 25 accused including Naufar Moulavi in connection with the Easter Sunday terror attacks that took place on April 21, 2019, was yesterday fixed for May 12 by the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar.

The case will be taken up on May 12 to consider whether all the requirements have been completed to commence the trial.

The case was taken up before the Bench comprising Colombo High Court Judges Damith Thotawatte, Amal Ranaraja and Navaratne Marasinghe.

© Thomson Reuters A Special Task Force member stands guard at an entrance of a High Court room before the Court hearing for Easter Sunday bombings in 2019, in Colombo, Sri Lanka November 23, 2021. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

During the course of the case, the Court premises were heavily guarded by the Police and the Special Task Force (STF) and all the accused were brought to Court amid tight security.

When the case was taken up before the Court yesterday, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Haripriya Jayasundara appearing on behalf of the Attorney General informed Court that the requested translated indictments are ready to be handed over to the accused.

After that, according to the indictments, documents containing the charges against each of the accused were separately presented to the Court by ASG Jayasundara. She further said that she needs to discuss with the Attorney General regarding granting bail to any of the accused.

On a previous occasion, as the charge sheets in this case have been submitted only in Sinhala, the 17 accused in the case, including Naufar Moulavi, requested the Court to provide them with a Tamil translation of the charge sheets while accused Mohamed Akram Ahakkam had also requested an English translation. The indictments have been filed in connection with eight attacks on Kochchikade St. Anthony’s Church, Katuwapitiya St. Sebastian’s Church, The Kingsbury Hotel, Shangri-La Colombo, Cinnamon Grand Colombo, Batticaloa Zion Church and the Dehiwela Tropical Inn against the 25 accused.

Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed Nawfar alias Naufar Moulavi, Mohammed Saribu Adam Lebbe (Abu Hadik), Hayathu Mohammed Milhan (Abu Zillah), Mohammed Ibrahim Sadiq Abdullah (Abu Umar), Mohammed Ebrahim Abdul Haq (Abu Fala) , Mohammad Anwar Mohammad Riskan (Abu Tariq), Mohammad Mansoor Mohammad Sanasdeen (Abu Misan), Abdul Manaf Mohammad Piridavus, Mohammad Ramish Mohammad Zarik, Abdul Latif Mohammad Safi (Safi Moulavi/Abu Furqan), Husseinul Rizvi Mohammad Kahir Samir, Mohammad Zawheer Mohammad Hassan (Abu Dawood), Mohammad Iftikhar Mohammad Insaf (Abu Mohammad), Rashid Mohamed Ibrahim, Mohammed Hanifa Zainul Abdin (Abu Hina), Mohamed Mustafa Mohamed Haris (Abu Nanjiar), Yassin Bawa Abdul Rauf, Rasik Raza Hussain, Kachchi Mohamed Jasmine, Zainul Abdeen Mohamed Jaseen, Mohamed Mustafa Mohamed Rizwan, Meera Saheed Mohamed Nafli (Abu Sana), Mohamed Amin Ayantullah, Mohamed Ansar Deen Hilmi and Mohamed Akram were indicted by the Attorney General in the High Court.

The indictments were filed against accused under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) comprising 23,270 charges including charges of conspiracy, preparation, aiding and abetting, collection of explosives and weapons, murder and attempted murder. Nearly 275 Sri Lankans and foreigners were killed and nearly 500 injured in the almost simultaneous attacks, the biggest terrorist incident in Sri Lanka since the war ended in May 2009.