Sri Lanka jails firebrand Buddhist monk for Muslim insults

Police personnel escort Buddhist monk Galagodaatte Gnanasara to prison at Colombo high court on March 28, 2024. - AFP

COLOMBO: A Sri Lankan court on Thursday (March 28) sentenced an influential Buddhist monk to four years' hard labour for fanning sectarian hatred against the island's minority Muslim population.

The Colombo High Court found Galagodaatte Gnanasara had hurt Muslims by making disparaging remarks about Islam at a 2016 press conference.