Easter Sunday attack Bail refused for Naufer Mawlawi and 24 others

• The Trial-at-Bar bench  held that it would  be inappropriate to enlarge the accused on bail at this juncture

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda 

The bail applications filed on behalf of 25 accused including Naufer Mawlawi held in remand custody in connection with the Easter Sunday Terrorist attacks were yesterday rejected by Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar.  

The Trial-at-Bar bench comprising High Court Judges Damith Thotawatta (President), Amal Ranaraja and Nawaratne Marasinghe held that it would be inappropriate to enlarge the accused on bail at this juncture. The case was fixed for further trial on February 1.   The Attorney General had filed indictments against 25 accused including Naufer Mawlawi, Sajid Maulawi, Mohammed Milhan, Sadik Abdullah, Aadam Lebbe alias Gafoor Mama, Mohammed Sanasdeen and Mohammed Rizwan in respect of eight terrorist attacks at St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade, St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, the Kingsbury Hotel, Shangri-La Hotel, Cinnamon Grand Colombo, Zion Church in Batticaloa and Tropical lnn in Dehiwela.    The Attorney General had filed 13,270 charges against 25 accused in connection with the Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks that took place on April 21, 2019, and killed 269 people.