134th Day of the Main Easter Attack Trial – HC (TAB) 2972/21
Date: 26th 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 counsels for the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 16th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 23rd accused.
Counsel appearing for the 1st, 10th, 11th, 15th, 18th,21st, 22nd, 24th, and 25th accused informed the Court that he had been assigned to represent the 1st and 10th accused and privately retained by the 11th, 15th, 18th,21st, 22nd, 24th, and 25th accused. Counsel further informed that due to the daily basis on which the trial was being conducted, he is unable to continue appearing in the matter and accordingly sought to withdraw from representation and to have his assignment cancelled. Accordingly, the Court accepted his request, cancelled the assignment and directed the Counsel to hand over all case-related documents in his possession to the Court.
The Court informed that on 9th January 2026, Counsel appearing for the 4th, 5th, 6th, 16th, 19th, and 20th accused had informed the Court of his inability to proceed with the case and sought permission to withdraw. Further informed that on 12th January 2026, Counsel for 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 8th, 9th and 23rd accused as well as Counsel for the 4th, 5th, 6th, 16th, 19th and 20th accused, informed the Court that they would withdraw from appearing in the case but would continue to represent the said accused only until the completion of the voir dire inqury relating to the 5th and 8th accused. The Court informed that the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 16th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 23rd accused had previously been afforded opportunities to discuss with their relatives to decide whether they wished to appoint private counsels or request assigned counsels. The Court further 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 were questioned by the Court as to whether facilities had been provided to the accused to communicate with their families regarding the appointment of counsels following the Court’s order dated 22nd January 2026.
The Court inquired individually from the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 16th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 23rd accused regarding their position on legal representation. Accordingly, the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 9th, 16th, 19th and 20th accused informed the Court that they intend to retain private counsels. They further informed that the counsel they had approached had requested access to the documents, including the indictment; however, such documents were not currently in their possession. It was brought to the attention of the Court that some of the documents were held at Wariyapola Prison and Colombo Remand Prison, while others remained with their former counsels.
The 4th, 5th, 8th and 23rd accused informed the Court that they preferred to be represented by an assigned Counsel. Accordingly, the Court assigned Mr. Nalinda Pramith AAL, from the Legal Aid Commission, to represent them. Mr. Nalinda Pramith AAL informed the Court that three additional counsels had also been appointed by the Legal Aid Commission. The Court informed that if any of those counsels appear in this matter, they may also be assigned to represent the said accused, and until such time, Mr. Nalinda Pramith would continue as the assigned counsel. The accused further requested that a counsel fluent in Tamil and able to understand the Tamil language be appointed, as they were more comfortable communicating in Tamil.
The Court ordered the Registrar to inform all former counsel to submit all documents relating to the case to the Court tomorrow (27th January 2026). The Court further ordered the Colombo Remand Prison and Wariyapola Prison to take immediate steps to collect and submit all such documents in their custody to Court, tomorrow.
The matter was fixed to be called again on 27th January 2026 at 10.00 a.m., for the purpose of ensuring the availability of all relevant documents.
