The prosecution’s presentation of evidence in the Easter Sunday terror attacks case, in which 23,270 charges have been filed against 24 accused persons, including Naufer Moulavi, concluded at 1.00 p.m. today (13).
A total of 2,309 prosecution witnesses have given evidence in the case. Following the presentation of the final evidence today, Additional Solicitor General Haripriya Jayasundara, who led the prosecution on behalf of the Attorney General, informed the court that the prosecution’s evidence had concluded.
Accordingly, the prosecution’s evidence, which had been presented extensively over approximately 547 days during a period of nearly five years, came to an end. The three-judge bench informed the court that the presentation of evidence by the defence would commence on the 17th.
During the subsequent calling of the defence, the court explained to the accused their statutory rights. Through a Tamil-language interpreter, the court explained that, if they wished, the accused could enter the witness box and give evidence under oath, in which case their evidence would be subject to cross-examination.
The court also explained that, if they wished, the accused could give evidence while remaining in the dock without entering the witness box. Such evidence would not be subject to cross-examination.
The court further explained that the accused also had the option of remaining silent in the dock without taking any of the aforementioned steps.
Twenty-five persons had initially been named as accused in the case. One of them died in 2021. Accordingly, indictments were served on the remaining 24 accused on October 4, 2021, and the indictments were read out to them on October 15, 2022.
The case is being heard before the Colombo Permanent Trial-at-Bar, comprising High Court Judge Navaratne Marasinghe, who presides over the bench, and fellow High Court Judges Sujeewa Nishshanka and Ramanathan Kannan.
During the presentation of the prosecution’s evidence, it was established through the truthfulness tests conducted on several confessions made by the accused that they had been given voluntarily.
Ten confessions made by the accused have been admitted as evidence. A large number of Government Analyst’s reports, DNA reports, medical reports and post-mortem examination reports have also been marked as evidence.
During the trial, a member of Zahran’s suicide attack group turned state witness and disclosed a considerable amount of information regarding the attacks and related activities.
The prosecution is being led by a legal team comprising Senior Additional Solicitor General Haripriya Jayasundara, Additional Solicitor General Sudarshana de Silva, and State Counsel Sajith Bandara, Shakthi Jagoda Arachchi and Akila Dalpadadu.