186th Day of the Main Easter Attack Trial – HC (TAB) 2972/21
Date: 14th May 2026|
Venue: Special Permanent Three-Judge High Court (Trial-at-Bar), 2nd Floor, MCC Building, Adhikarana Mawatha, Colombo 12.
The voir dire inquiry related to the 1st accused continued today, and Witnesses Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10 from the additional witness list were present before Court to give evidence.
The Judicial Medical Officer before whom the 1st accused had been produced on 11th September 2021 was present before Court and informed Court that he wished to make a correction regarding the date on which the 1st accused had been brought before him. He stated that he had mistakenly recorded the date as 10th September 2021 in the MLEF and had brought the MLEF register before Court to demonstrate that the 1st accused had in fact been brought before him on 11th September 2021 and not on 10th September 2021. The Court admitted the correction, and no objections were raised on behalf of the accused.
The relevant MLEF was marked as M02, and the MLR, which had already been marked as P802, was also shown to him. The witness testified that the 1st accused had been brought before him on 11th September 2021 and that the accused himself had consented to the medical examination and had personally written his consent in English and signed it. The witness further testified that the 1st accused had no injuries on his body and had stated that he was doing well in custody, which the Judicial Medical Officer had recorded in the short history. The Judicial Medical Officer, Dr. Ajith Thennakoon, was cross-examined by the 4th accused and the 9th accused.
Thereafter, Witness No. 7, Police Inspector Iqbal, gave evidence-in-chief and testified that he had produced the 1st accused before the Judicial Medical Officer on 11th September 2021 with the assistance of Police Sergeants Palitha, Rajapaksha, and Tharuka. The witness was cross-examined by Counsel Mr. Namal Rajapaksha appearing for the 1st accused, and by the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 9th accused.
Witness No. 3 from the additional witness list, Woman Police Sergeant 411 Irosha Udayangani, who had served as a subordinate officer on 11th September 2021, gave evidence and was cross-examined by Counsel Mr. Namal Rajapaksha appearing for the 1st accused, and by the 4th accused and the 9th accused.
Witnesses Nos. 4 and 9 from the additional witness list gave evidence-in-chief and were cross-examined by Counsel Mr. Namal Rajapaksha appearing for the 1st accused, and by the 4th accused and the 9th accused.
Witness No. 2 from the additional witness list gave evidence-in-chief and was cross-examined by Counsel Mr. Namal Rajapaksha appearing for the 1st accused and by the 3rd accused.
Witness No. 6 from the additional witness list gave evidence-in-chief and was cross-examined by Counsel Mr. Namal Rajapaksha appearing for the 1st accused and by the 9th accused.
The Prosecution informed Court that the prosecution case related to the voir dire inquiry of the 1st accused had concluded and that, accordingly, both parties had finished their respective cases in relation to the said voir dire inquiry. Accordingly, Court directed both parties to file their written submissions on or before 3rd June 2026.
The Court ordered summons to be issued on Prosecution Witness No. 2119, ASP Upul Lasantha Rathnayaka, and also directed that Prosecution Witness No. 1773, ASP Kavinda Piyasekara, in respect of whom summons had previously been ordered, appear before Court on the following day.
Several accused informed Court that, as the court proceedings in this case continued until evening hours, they were unable to receive the tea provided by the prison authorities by the time they were taken back to prison. The accused further informed Court that, after having lunch within the court premises, they required access to hot water for drinking purposes and requested Court to consider facilitating the same.
Accordingly, Court ordered the Superintendent of the Colombo Remand Prison and the Superintendent of Magazine Prison to appear before Court on a future date to discuss the matter.
The matter was fixed to be called again on 15th May 2026 at 10.00 a.m. for further trial.
