A Buddhist monk has been sentenced to four years in prison for insulting Sri Lanka’s minority Muslim community. Colombo High Court judge Aditya Patabendige sentenced Galagodathe Gnanasara for making derogatory remarks against Islam during a press conference in 2016. The court order released on March 28 has been reported by various media including news agency AFP. A court official confirmed that Gnanasara was fined $330 by the court and immediately taken into custody to serve his sentence.
Sri Lanka jails the firebrand Buddhist monk, Galagodaatte Gnanasara, for making disparaging remarks about Islam at a 2016 press conference. pic.twitter.com/F5baGOfv8e
— South Asian Digest (@SADigestOnline) March 29, 2024
Gnanasara, who has close ties to Myanmar’s radical Buddhist monk Wirathu, is accused of inciting violence against Muslims, who make up 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s population.
#SriLanka: Buddhist monk Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero has been sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment by the Colombo High Court Judge Aditya Patabendige for defamatory statements made against the Islam religion at a #Colombo press conference in 2016. pic.twitter.com/vcvJOygMZX
— LankaFiles (@lankafiles) March 28, 2024
This is not the first time that Gnanasara has been imprisoned. In 2018, he was sentenced to six years in prison for threatening the wife of a missing cartoonist and contempt of court. But he was released after nine months after former President Maithripala Sirisena pardoned him.
Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa later made Gnanasara the leader of a panel recommending legal reforms to promote religious harmony. Opposition leader Shanakian Rasamanikam then criticized the move as paradoxical considering Gnanasara’s history.
In any case, the conviction against Gnanasara is seen as part of efforts to resolve the ongoing conflicts between religious communities in Sri Lanka, as well as the problems of sectarianism and extremism.
Buddhist monk Galagodam Gnanasara was sentenced to four years in prison for insulting the Muslim community in Sri Lanka.
#Insulting #Muslims #Sri #Lankan #Buddhist #monk #jailed #years
2024-03-29 12:01:42
