Easter Attack case takes a fresh turn as Ravi Seneviratne and Shani Abeysekara are removed from the defence witness list.
Easter Attack case proceedings took a new turn today (07) after the defence informed the Colombo three-judge High Court that Ravi Seneviratne and Shani Abeysekara would be removed from the witness list.
The case has been filed against former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando over alleged criminal dereliction of duty. It is claimed that proper intelligence regarding the Easter Sunday terrorist attack had been received, but no action was taken to prevent it.
The defence made the statement when the case was taken up before the three-judge High Court bench comprising Priyantha Liyanage as Chairman, Viraj Weerasuriya, and P.N.T. Bandara.
This criminal case has also been filed against former Police Chief Pujitha Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando over alleged failure to act on intelligence received ahead of the Easter Sunday bombings.
After the prosecution witnesses had been heard, the accused gave their statements from the dock.
Thereafter, following a request by the defence to present facts on behalf of accused Hemasiri Fernando, the three-judge High Court had issued summons on Shani Abeysekara and Ravi Seneviratne to appear before court.
Accordingly, when the defence’s cross-examination of witnesses commenced yesterday (07), court was informed that Shani Abeysekara, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, who had been named to give evidence for the defence, was unable to appear in court due to illness.
The lawyer representing him reported this matter to court.
The defence then requested permission to submit as evidence the joint affidavit filed by Shani Abeysekara and Ravi Seneviratne in Case No. 241/2024 before the Supreme Court.
That case had sought a writ order to prevent their alleged illegal arrest in connection with the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks.
The defence also took steps to name the Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court as the 8th witness for the defence.
Additional Solicitor General Sudarshana de Silva, appearing for the prosecution, stated that while the prosecution does not accept the accuracy of the contents of the affidavit, it acknowledges that such an affidavit had been filed before the Supreme Court.
The court observed that since the prosecution had acknowledged this fact, there was no need to summon the Registrar of the Supreme Court as a witness.
Accordingly, the defence informed court that there was no longer a need to summon Shani Abeysekara and Ravi Seneviratne as witnesses.
After considering the submissions, the three-judge High Court bench ordered that steps be taken to produce a certified copy of the joint affidavit filed in the relevant Supreme Court case before court on the next hearing date.
In 2019, Ravi Seneviratne served as the Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department.
Shani Abeysekara served as the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department during the same period.
Additional Solicitor General Sudarshana de Silva appeared for the prosecution, while Senior Counsel Chaminda Athukorale appeared for the defence.
The case is scheduled to be called again on May 22.
