COLOMBO, Jan 9: A firebrand Sri Lankan Buddhist majority hardliner monk was on Thursday sentenced to nine months imprisonment by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court for his Islamophobic comments made in 2016.
Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, 49, was additionally fined Rs 1,500 by Colombo Additional Magistrate Pasan Amarasena.
In March last year, Gnanasara was sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment by the High Court and had won release through the Appeal Court five months later.
The monk, who was running an anti-Muslim minority campaign since 2012, was charged for comments made at a press conference held in March 2016.
Today’s sentence was due to his failure to appear in court.
His last year’s sentencing came despite his public apology to the Muslim community for the distress caused by his public comments.
The High Court ruled that Gnanasara, who led the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or the forces of Buddhist Power, had caused religious and communal disunity through his comments.
In 2018, Gnanasara was arrested for contempt of court but later won a presidential pardon. (PTI)
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