Defendants in the trial over the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings began presenting their defence before a three-member Colombo High Court bench on Monday, opening a new stage in one of Sri Lanka’s largest criminal proceedings.
The case involves more than 23,000 charges, including allegations of conspiracy in connection with the attacks, Ada Derana reported. A total of 24 defendants have been named, all of whom are currently held in remand custody.
The trial is being heard by High Court judges Navaratne Marasinghe, Ramanathan Kannan and Sujeewa Nissanka.
Three defendants address court from the dock
When the case was taken up, defendants Zainul Abdeen Mohamed Jeseem, Mohamed Mustapha Mohamed Rizwan and Meera Zahir Mohamed Nafli made statements from the dock. The defendants are expected to continue presenting evidence in their defence.
Hiru News reported that the hearing of defence evidence will now be held daily. The defence was called on 13 August, when the court also explained to the defendants the rights available to them under the constitution.
According to the case record, some defendants have decided to make statements from the dock and will call additional witnesses on their behalf. A further group of defendants is prepared to make dock statements but has informed the court that no other witnesses will be called for them.
Background
The April 2019 suicide bombings on churches and hotels killed more than 260 people and remain the subject of several parallel legal proceedings. Those include a separate case in which former Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando were sentenced to death over failures to act on prior intelligence warnings.
Progress in the conspiracy trial has been affected by vacancies on the bench, an issue raised earlier this month when judicial appointments relevant to the Easter case came under discussion.
