The High Court trial-at-bar hearing the Easter Sunday terror attack case has ordered the defence to begin presenting evidence from today (17), following the conclusion of the prosecution’s case against all 24 accused.
The three judge bench, comprising Judge Nawaratne Marasinghe (President) along with Judges Sujeewa Nissanka and Ramanathan Kannan, determined that sufficient grounds existed to call evidence from every accused in the case.
Before ordering the defence to proceed, the bench explained the rights entitled to each of the accused and directed them to state their individual positions.
Of the 24 accused, the sixth, Mohamed Rizwan, informed the court that he would not be giving evidence and intended to remain silent.
The remaining accused indicated they would either give evidence from the dock, make a statement from the dock, or present external evidence in their defence.
The prosecution’s case, built over 547 days of evidence presented across a five year period, drew on testimony from approximately 1,500 witnesses in relation to 23,270 indictments filed against the 24 accused.
Prosecutors also tendered 2,076 court exhibits, including documents, bomb making material and other evidence gathered through witness testimony.
Ten confessions made by the accused before a magistrate and under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) were presented during the trial, though the court ruled the confession given by accused Mohamed Firdauz inadmissible after determining it had not been made voluntarily.
The remaining confessions were found to have been given voluntarily and were permitted to be presented as evidence.
The accused stand charged in connection with the attacks carried out by Zahran Hashim and his terrorist cell, which killed around 268 people and injured over 500 others when churches and tourist hotels were targeted on Easter Sunday in 2019.