More than seven years after suicide bombers struck churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday, the principal criminal prosecution against those accused of conspiring in and assisting the attacks has reached judgment stage, with the Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar fixing September 22 for its verdict.
One of the most significant criminal trials in Sri Lanka’s recent history is approaching its conclusion, with the three-judge Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar fixing September 22 to deliver its verdict in the principal prosecution arising directly from the 2019 Easter Sunday terrorist attacks.
The case was brought against 25 accused over allegations that they conspired to carry out, aided or otherwise assisted the coordinated suicide bombings of April 21, 2019. Among those indicted is Naufer Moulavi, who has figured prominently throughout proceedings. The extraordinary scale of the prosecution is reflected in the 23,270 charges originally filed by the Attorney General, encompassing allegations including conspiracy, aiding and abetting, collecting arms and ammunition and attempted murder under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
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The prosecution presented an extensive body of evidence during proceedings stretching over several years. Earlier this month it closed its case after hundreds of witnesses had been called and more than 2,000 exhibits produced, following which the accused were called upon to present their defence.
Naufer Moulavi, the first accused, subsequently made a lengthy statement from the dock in which he rejected the allegations against him and denied involvement in the Easter Sunday attacks. With the defence proceedings now concluded, the Trial-at-Bar has fixed September 22 for judgment.
The proceedings concern the coordinated suicide bombings which devastated Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday 2019, when churches and leading hotels in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa were attacked as worshippers attended Easter services and hotel guests sat down to breakfast. More than 270 people, including foreign nationals, were killed and hundreds more were injured in what became the country’s worst terrorist atrocity since the end of the civil war.
The attacks subsequently produced investigations at several levels, including a Presidential Commission of Inquiry, a Parliamentary Select Committee and extensive police and intelligence investigations.
The criminal process has itself produced several distinct cases, a distinction which has sometimes become obscured in public discussion surrounding Easter Sunday.
The proceedings due for judgment on September 22 are separate from the prosecution of former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and former Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara. The latter case concerned their failure to take appropriate action on intelligence warnings received before the bombings and culminated on July 31 with both former officials being convicted and sentenced to death.
The present Trial-at-Bar addresses a different part of the Easter Sunday story: the criminal responsibility of those accused of conspiracy, assistance and other offences connected with the terrorist operation itself.
The September judgment cannot, of course, resolve every controversy that has surrounded Easter Sunday during the seven years since the attacks. Questions have persisted over intelligence failures, the wider network behind the bombers, possible external connections and whether every person who bears responsibility for the catastrophe has ultimately been identified and brought before the law.
Those are questions extending beyond the boundaries of any single criminal prosecution. The responsibility of the Trial-at-Bar is narrower and considerably more precise: to determine whether the prosecution has proved the charges against each accused to the standard required by law.
For the victims, their families and a country which has waited more than seven years for answers, September 22 will nevertheless represent an important milestone. After one of the largest indictments in Sri Lankan criminal history, hundreds of witnesses, thousands of exhibits and years of proceedings, the principal Easter Sunday terrorism trial has finally reached the point at which the court will deliver its judgment.
