- Naufer Mawlawi and Gafoor Mama convicted
- 9 acquitted and released
- 24 indicted by AG on 23,270 charges
- Charges under PTA include conspiracy, aiding & abetting, collecting arms & ammo, attempted murder
- 2,309 witnesses for the prosecution
The Colombo Permanent High Court (HC) Trial-at-Bar yesterday (22) delivered its long-awaited verdict in the Easter Sunday terror attacks trial against Naufer Mawlawi and 23 co-defendants. Accordingly, 15 defendants have been found guilty in connection with the Easter Sunday terror attacks. The remaining nine defendants were ordered to be acquitted and released.
The sentences for the 15 accused found guilty were also scheduled to be announced late yesterday.
The verdict was delivered in the case filed against 24 defendants on over 23,270 charges — including conspiracy and aiding and abetting — related to the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks.
The Easter Sunday attacks took place on 21 April 2019, when coordinated suicide bombings targeted three churches and three hotels across several parts of Sri Lanka. The attacks killed more than 350 people, including a number of foreign nationals, while over 500 persons sustained injuries in the explosions.
Following the attacks, several investigations were launched, including a Presidential Commission of Inquiry and a Parliamentary Select Committee inquiry and several Police investigations.
The Attorney General (AG) subsequently filed indictments against 24 accused and sought the appointment of a Trial-at-Bar to hear the case. The AG had filed 23,270 charges against the 24 accused, including allegations of conspiracy, aiding and abetting, collecting arms and ammunition and attempted murder under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act (PTA). Among those named as accused is Naufer Mawlawi. The case includes allegations over their links to the extremist group responsible for the Easter Sunday attacks. A total of 2,309 witnesses testified for the prosecution in the case.
Following daily hearings, the recording of evidence for both the prosecution and the defence concluded on 24 August of this year (2026). Upon concluding the extensive trial, the Court fixed yesterday as the date for delivering the verdict.
The three-Judge bench ruled that the prosecution had proved beyond a reasonable doubt the charges filed against the 15 accused. The defendants convicted of all charges were: Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Naufer, alias Naufer Mawlawi; Mohamed Sariboo Adam Lebbe, alias Abu Hadeeq or Gafoor Mama; Hayathu Mohamed Milhan, alias Abu Sila; Mohamed Ibrahim Sadiq Abdullah, alias Abu Umar; Mohamed Ibrahim Shahid Abdul Haq, alias Abu Fala; Mohamed Anwar Mohamed Rizkan, alias Abu Tariq; Mohamed Mansoor Mohamed Sanasdeen, alias Abu Mizan; Abdul Manaf Mohamed Firdous; Mohamed Rameez Mohamed Sajid, alias Sajid Moulavi or Abu Naja; Husainul Risvi Khalid Sameer; Mohamed Haniffa Zainul Abdeen, alias Abu Hina; Mohamed Mustapha Mohamed Haris, alias Abu Naan Siyar; Kachchi Mohamed Jesmin; and Zainul Abdeen Mohamed Jaseen.
The 10th defendant, Abdul Latheef Mohamed Safi, alias Safi Moulavi or Abu Furqan, was acquitted only of the 16th charge against him. He was found guilty of the remaining charges, bringing the total number of convicted defendants to 15.
The following nine defendants were acquitted and released: Mohamed Zawahir Mohamed Hasan, alias Abu Dawood; Mohamed Iftikar Mohamed Insaf, alias Abu Mohamed; Rasheed Mohamed Ibrahim; Razik Raza Hussain; Mohamed Mustapha Mohamed Rizwan; Meera Saheed Mohamed Nafli, alias Abu Sana; Mohamed Ameen Ayanthullah; Mohamed Ansardeen Hilmi; and Mohamed Akram Ahakkam.
The Attorney General initially served indictments on 25 defendants, including Naufer Moulavi, on 4 October 2021. However, the 22nd defendant, Yasin Bawa Abdul Rauf, died in 2023 while the trial was underway, leaving 24 defendants.
The lengthy trial, which continued for nearly five years, concluded on 24 August.
The AG alleged that the defendants conspired with Zahran Hashim and several others to promote extremist ideologies and provoke religious, ethnic and communal hostility.
The prosecution alleged that the conspiracy resulted in the coordinated bombings at the St. Anthony’s Shrine in Kochchikade, the St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, the Zion Church in Batticaloa, the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury hotels in Colombo, and the New Tropical Inn in Dehiwala.
Nearly 270 people were killed and 526 others were injured in the attacks.
The bomb attack on the St. Anthony’s Shrine was carried out by Ahmed Muath, while Mohamed Hasjthun was identified as the suicide bomber who attacked St. Sebastian’s Church.
Mohamed Azzam Mohamed Mubarak carried out the attack on the Kingsbury Hotel, while Zahran Hashim and Ilham Ahmed Mohamed Ibrahim were identified as the two suicide bombers who attacked the Shangri-La Hotel.
The attack on the Zion Church was carried out by Mohamed Nasser Mohamed Azad.
Inshaf Ahmed Ibrahim, the elder brother of Ilham Ibrahim, carried out the suicide bombing at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel.
Abdul Latheef Jameel Mohamed, who failed to detonate his bomb at the Taj Samudra Hotel, later detonated it at the New Tropical Inn in Dehiwala.
Meanwhile, Fatima Ibrahim, the wife of Ilham Ibrahim, detonated an explosive device when Police officers entered a house at Mahavila Gardens in Dematagoda following the attacks. Three Police officers, Fatima, her unborn child and two other children were killed in that explosion.
Special security measures had been deployed at the Aluthkade Courts Complex yesterday morning as the defendants in the case were produced before Court ahead of the delivery of the verdict. Several special Police teams had reportedly been assigned to strengthen security at the Court premises.