A radical Buddhist monk has been sentenced to nine months in prison for insulting Islam and inciting religious hatred in Sri Lanka. The convicted Buddhist monk was named Galagodatta Gnanasara. He was a close ally of deposed Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
According to a BBC report, the Colombo Magistrate's Court on Thursday gave this verdict in view of a statement made by Galagodatte Gnanasara in 2016.
This is the second time for Gnanasara, although it is rare for Buddhist monks to be punished or punished in Sri Lanka. Earlier in 2019, he was sentenced to six years in prison for contempt of court and intimidating a cartoonist's wife.
In 2016, Gnanasara was accused of making insulting remarks against Islam at a press conference, according to a BBC report. But he could not be arrested as the Rajapakse government was in power at that time. He was then arrested after the fall of Rajapaksha in 2022.
On this charge, the court sentenced Gnanasara to 9 months imprisonment and fined 1500 Sri Lankan rupees. If he does not pay the fine, he will have to serve another month in jail.
Gnanasara appealed against the verdict. However, the court rejected his request to release him on bail pending the final verdict on the appeal.
Galagodatta Gnanasara led the nationalist Sinhalese Buddhist organization during Rajapaksa's regime and headed the Presidential Task Force on Religious Harmony.
Earlier in 2018, the Buddhist monk was accused of contempt of court and threatening the wife of a cartoonist. In 2019, the court sentenced him to six years in prison on that charge. But he was released after serving only 9 months in prison as he was pardoned by the then President Maithripala Sirisena.
