General23 June 2026

High Court upholds Gnanasara Thera's prison sentence

The prison sentence imposed by the Colombo Magistrate's Court on Bodu Bala Sena Secretary, Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera, stood firm today (23) after the Colombo High Court upheld the ruling.

Delivering the verdict, Colombo High Court Judge Manjula Thilakarathna firmly threw out an appeal filed by the monk, which requested an acquittal and immediate release from the jail term.

Police initially filed the case under the Penal Code, charging him with disrupting ethnic harmony by making derogatory remarks regarding Islam.

Following the trial, the Colombo Magistrate's Court found him guilty of the charge and handed down the original punishment.
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