'I Had No Role in the Easter Attacks' - Naufar Moulavi Tells Court

COLOMBO (News 1st); The first accused in the Easter Sunday terror attacks case, Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Naufer, also known as Naufar Moulavi, on Monday rejected all charges brought against him and delivered his defence statement before the Colombo Trial-at-Bar.

The case, filed against 25 accused persons under 23,270 charges including conspiracy, aiding and abetting the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, was taken up before a three-judge bench comprising Judges Navaratna Marasinghe, Ramanathan Kannan and Sujeewa Nissanka.

The prosecution concluded presenting its evidence last week, following which the accused began presenting their defence statements from the dock on Monday.

Accordingly, Naufar Moulavi, the first accused in the case, addressed court for nearly two hours and rejected all allegations levelled against him.

Addressing the trial-at-bar, Naufar Moulavi said:

"Your Honours, I have been accused in this case of acting together with nine individuals, including Zaharan, Wasim, Insaf, Ilham and other suicide bombers involved in the Easter Sunday attacks, to carry out activities that promoted extremism and terrorism and undermined national unity. I have also been accused of delivering extremist and terrorist speeches that damaged ethnic harmony and coexistence. In relation to these allegations, 940 charges have been filed against me. I reject all of these charges."

The accused further claimed that the confession recorded by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) following his arrest after the Easter Sunday attacks was not made voluntarily.

In his defence statement, he told the court:

"The Criminal Investigation Department recorded statements from me in a completely different manner. First, they recorded statements and later obtained my signature on documents claiming they were printed copies of those statements. While I was in CID custody, I was assaulted. I complained about this when I was first produced before the Judicial Medical Officer. The confession recorded by the CID is entirely contrary to the law. It was not a voluntary confession. Everything in that confession, except the mention of my name, Mohamed Naufer, is false."

Naufar Moulavi also told the court that Zaharan Hashim's National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) organization had been registered at the Kattankudy Divisional Secretariat.

Presenting further observations, he stated:

"During 2015 and 2016, extremist activities were carried out by Zaharan Hashim's NTJ, against the Muslim community. Muslim-owned properties were attacked. Islamic places of worship suffered partial or complete damage. Copies of the Holy Quran were burned. Pork was thrown into Muslim premises. All these incidents happened in broad daylight in front of the police and security forces. However, neither the intelligence services nor the security forces took any action to prevent them. I came to believe that there was a politically-backed hand with state patronage behind those activities."

The accused also denied having played any role in the Easter Sunday attacks and rejected allegations linking him to the conspiracy.

"Your Honours, from 2007 until 2017, I had no relationship whatsoever with Zaharan Hashim. However, Zaharan was married to a woman who was my relative, and that is how I came to know him. I also knew his brother, Rilwan. But I have absolutely no connection to the Easter Sunday attacks."

Concluding his defence statement, Naufar Moulavi requested that the court acquit and release him from all charges.

Meanwhile, the 20th accused, Zainul Abdeen Mohamed Jaseem, the 21st accused, Mohamed Musthapa Mohamed Rizwan, the 22nd accused, Meera Sahib Mohamed Nafli, the 23rd accused, Mohamed Ameer Mohamed Ayathulla, the 24th accused, Mohamed Ansardeen Mohamed Ilmi and the 25th accused, Mohamed Akram Ahakkam, also presented their defence statements from the dock on Monday.

The court was also informed that the 18th accused in the case is deceased.