Case against 25 accused fixed for pre-trial conference
The case filed against 25 accused including Nawfer Moulavi in connection with the Easter Sunday terror attacks that took place on April 21, 2019, was yesterday fixed for pre-trial conference on August 4 by the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar.
The case was taken up before the bench comprising Colombo High Court Judges Damith Thotawatte, Amal Ranaraja and Navaratne Marasinghe.
During the course of the case, the court premises were heavily guarded by the police and the STF and all the accused were brought to the court amid tight security.
Deputy Solicitor General Sudharshana de Silva appearing on behalf of the Attorney General, informed the Court that if all the charges in the indictment were to be read to the accused in open court, it would take considerable time and the prosecution wished to find out if there was any alternative way to read out the charges in the indictments to all 25 accused with the acknowledgment of the defence.
He also said that if the defence expects to file bail applications for the accused, they can do so.
The indictments have been filed in connection with eight attacks on Kochchikade St. Anthony’s Church, Katuwapitiya St. Sebastian’s Church, The Kingsbury Colombo, Shangri-La Colombo, Cinnamon Grand Colombo, Batticaloa Zion Church and 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 Colombo High Court.
The indictments were filed against the accused under the Prevention of Terrorism Act comprising 23,270 charges including charges of conspiracy, preparation, aiding and abetting, collection of explosives and weapons, murder and attempted murder.