133th Day of the Main Easter Attack Trial – HC (TAB) 2972/21
Date: 22th January 2026|
Venue: Special Trial-at-Bar, Colombo 07
The case was taken up before the Trial-at-Bar with all accused present, except for the 17th accused who had passed away. The matter was called for the purpose of discussing the appointment of counsel for the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 16th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 23rd accused.
The Court informed that written requests had been sent to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) and the Legal Aid Commission seeking a list of suitable counsels. Jailer K.K. Jayasekare of Magazine Prison and G.K.S. Gimhan of Colombo Remand Prison submitted reports to Court regarding the progress made in facilitating opportunities for the accused to discuss the appointment of counsels with their families. The Court inquired individually from the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 16th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 23rd accused regarding the progress in securing legal representation. All the said accused stated that the counsel they had approached had requested access to the documents, including the indictment, however, such documents were not in their possession, except in the case of one accused. They further informed the Court that the documents of some accused were currently held at Wariyapola Prison and Colombo Remand Prison, while the documents of others remained with their previous counsels. The Court recorded the names of the previous counsels and ordered that they be informed to submit all documents relating to the case to Court. The Court further directed Colombo Remand Prison to take immediate steps to collect and submit all such documents to Court.
The Court informed the accused that they have been provided opportunities to communicate with their families via telephone and to meet them in person and accordingly directed them to take necessary steps to appoint counsels, as time has been granted until 26th January 2025 to do so. The accused were directed to inform Court of the decisions made in consultation with their families on the next date.
The Court also ordered the Prosecution to inform Court regarding the examination admission, as the 9th accused had already sat for several subjects.
As the trial could not proceed until the counsels are assigned for all accused, the matter was fixed to be called again on 26th January 2026 at 10.00 a.m to consider the status of the appointment of counsels.
