Two defendants in the 2018 Wanathavilluwa explosives case told the Colombo High Court on Thursday that they are prepared to plead guilty, in a prosecution linked to Easter Sunday lead bomber Zahran Hashim.
The two, both currently out on bail, said when the case was called that they were ready to accept all charges against them, Hiru News reported.
Hiru names them as Abu Haneesha Mohamed Museeth, alias Abu Dahida, and Ameer Hamza Mohamed Hamas.
The three-judge bench ordered the case recalled on October 5 for further submissions and for the two men to state their formal position. The bench also confirmed that the trial will proceed on a daily basis from Monday, October 5.
The trial is before judges Lal Ranasinghe Bandara, Rashmi Singappuli and Nayomi Wickramasekara.
An offer, not yet a conviction
What was made on Thursday is an indication of intent. The bench has set October 5 precisely so the defendants can state their position formally, and nothing in Hiru’s account suggests a plea has been entered or accepted. No report says whether the prosecution has agreed to any arrangement, or what the two men’s position means for the four remaining defendants.
This continues the order LankaNewz reported on September 28, when the same bench directed that the case be heard daily from October 5 after resolving a dispute over case documents that had not reached two defendants transferred to Welikada Prison.
The case
The prosecution concerns the unlawful gathering of explosives and a firearm at Lasthos Watta in Wanathavilluwa, Puttalam, in 2018, in association with religious extremists including Zahran Hashim.
During the 2018 raid, Criminal Investigation Department officers seized a stock of nitrates regarded as explosive material, 12 live rounds, a firearm, and quantities of nitric acid and urea used in manufacturing explosives.
The Attorney General indicted six defendants on 14 counts. Hiru’s Thursday filing lists them as Abu Haneefa Mohamed Musif, Ameer Hamza Mohamed Hamas, Mohamed Sarifu Adam Lebbe, Mohamed Ibrahim Sadik Abdulla, Mohamadu Ibrahim Mohamadu Naufur and Mohamed Rameesh Mohamed Sajid.
Four of those six are already serving sentences following conviction in the main Easter Sunday trial, in which the High Court Trial-at-Bar delivered its verdict on September 22.
Two cautions on the names
Hiru’s own renderings of the defendants’ names differ between its September 28 and October 2 filings — the first defendant appears as “Abu Haneefa Mohamed Musable” in one and “Abu Haneesha Mohamed Museeth” in the other, both glossed as alias Abu Dahida, and the October filing introduces a third form, “Abu Haneefa Mohamed Musif”, within the same article. These are transliterations of the same name rather than different people, but LankaNewz has not been able to confirm the court’s own spelling.
Hiru’s October 2 copy also introduces the list of six with the phrase “four defendants who are also accused in the main Easter Sunday attacks” before naming all six. The September filing is clearer: four of the six are already serving sentences. We have followed the earlier, consistent reading.
Not reported
Hiru does not say which numbered defendants the two men are, what sentences the four already-convicted defendants are serving, what penalties the 14 counts carry, or whether the two who offered pleas are among the four convicted in the main trial. No account of Thursday’s hearing had appeared on a second verified newsroom at the time of writing — the Daily Mirror’s latest-news listing carried nothing on it, and Ada Derana remains unreachable.
