Venerable Gnanasara Thero appeared in court for another case, dressed in civilian clothes (video)

Venerable Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero, the General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena organization, who was re-imprisoned yesterday (05) to serve the remainder of his sentence for contempt of court, was brought before the Colombo High Court by prison officials today (06).

It is reported that the Thero was brought before the court in accordance with a warrant issued by the Colombo High Court for another case related to insulting Islam.

The presidential pardon granted to him in 2019 was revoked by the Supreme Court last September. Gnanasara Thero, who was convicted of contempt of court, was initially sentenced to six years in prison. After serving only about nine months of that sentence, former President Maithripala Sirisena granted him a presidential pardon in May 2019. With the Supreme Court's decision, he now has to serve a significant portion of that prison sentence again.

However, it was reported that Gnanasara Thero had gone missing after the Supreme Court's decision, and accordingly, the Court of Appeal issued an open warrant for his arrest to enforce the prison sentence.

Subsequently, yesterday (05), the Court of Appeal ordered the relevant authorities to implement the remaining period of the prison sentence imposed on Gnanasara Thero.

Watch the video related to this incident ›