COLOMBO: A Sri Lanka court on Thursday found a radical Buddhist monk guilty of criminal intimidation, the first time the notorious extremist has faced the prospect of jail. A magistrate in Homagama town released the firebrand monk on bail pending his sentencing on June 14. “This is not a personal victory for me, but a vindication for many thousands who had suffered as a result of this monk’s behaviour,” Eknaligoda told AFP. Gnanasara maintains close ties with Wirathu, an extremist monk in Mandalay, whose hate speech has galvanised religious tensions in Myanmar. Wirathu visited Sri Lanka as a guest of Gnanasara shortly after the 2014 violence in Sri Lanka’s tourist resort of Aluthgama.

Source: New Strait Times May 24, 2018 11:15 UTC