A hardline Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, Galagodaatte Gnanasara, closely linked to former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has been sentenced to nine months in prison for making derogatory remarks about Islam and inciting religious hatred.
Gnanasara was convicted on Thursday by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court for comments made during a 2016 press conference.
This marks a rare instance of a Buddhist monk being convicted in Sri Lanka and is the second time Gnanasara has faced imprisonment.
The court also imposed a fine of 1,500 Sri Lankan rupees ($5; £4), with an additional month in jail if the fine is not paid.
The court emphasized that Sri Lanka’s Constitution guarantees all citizens, irrespective of their religion, the right to freedom of belief.
Despite the sentencing, Gnanasara has filed an appeal and sought bail while awaiting the appeal’s outcome. However, the court denied the request.
Gnanasara, a leader of a Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist group, has faced repeated accusations of hate crimes and anti-Muslim violence.
In 2018, he was sentenced to six years for contempt of court and threatening the wife of a missing political cartoonist but served only nine months after receiving a pardon from then-President Maithripala Sirisena.
In 2019, Gnanasara was pardoned again after being jailed for a six-year sentence related to intimidation and contempt of court.
During Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency, he was appointed to head a task force on legal reforms to promote religious harmony.
However, following Rajapaksa’s ousting amid economic crisis protests in 2022, Gnanasara was jailed again for hate speech targeting the Muslim minority.
He was granted bail while appealing a four-year sentence.
The latest conviction underscores the ongoing tensions surrounding religious harmony in Sri Lanka, with Gnanasara remaining a controversial figure due to his close association with political power and his divisive rhetoric.
Source-BBC
