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Easter Sunday massacre: Trial proceeds amidst tight security
View(s):Following a statement made by an accused in an unrelated case about plans for a new terror attack, heavy security was seen at the Colombo High Court as the trial against 25 accused in the Easter Sunday attack continued for the second week.
For the fourth day in a row, an officer, who was part of the CCTV system at the Shangri La Hotel in Colombo, gave evidence this week. In evidence led by Deputy Solicitor General Sudarshana de Silva and Additional Solicitor General Haripriya Jayasundara, the witness showed the court 54 CCTV images of the day of the attack as well as the day preceding it.
The images showed Zahran Hashim, the leader of the bombers, together with the second bomber Ilham, walking into the hotel premises carrying backpacks.
Under cross-examination by the defence, the witness stated that at the time the bombing took place, the hotel did not possess a scanner to check the bags of those entering the premises.
The witness noted that there were 352 CCTV cameras at the hotel that functioned 24 hours a day and that unedited footage from those cameras was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
He said the CCTV footage was constantly checked, and the hotel had a rapid response team on hand to respond to any emergency.
A total of 25 accused have been indicted in the case, though the 17th accused has passed away. A total of 23,270 indictments have been filed against them in the High Court Trial-at-Bar comprising High Court Judges Damith Thotawatta (President), Amal Ranaraja and Navaratne Marasinghe.
M.M. Zuhair, PC, Anura Meddegoda, PC, and Attorney-at-Law Ghazali Hussain were among the counsel who appeared for the accused.
Last week’s Sunday Times story regarding this case erroneously referred to Mr Hussain as a President’s Counsel. He has written to the Sunday Times clarifying that he is not a President’s Counsel and that he appeared only for the 2nd, 9th and 23rd accused.
Shamil Silva, PC, appeared for Colombo’s Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, while the rights of the aggrieved party were represented by Attorney-at-Law Suren Perera.
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