Opposition MP Namal Rajapaksa, addressing Parliament after being brought from remand custody, criticised the government over the treatment of Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero and called on President Anura Kumara Dissanaiyake to consider granting him a presidential pardon.
Rajapaksa questioned why the government was seeking clemency from Saudi Arabia for Sri Lankan national Sivarasa Anojan, who faces a death sentence in the Kingdom, while not taking similar action in the case of Gnanasara Thero.
“If our President can ask the leader of another country for a pardon, he should be able to set an example through his actions here as well,” Rajapaksa said.
President Dissanayake has said the government will make a formal diplomatic appeal to the King of Saudi Arabia seeking clemency for Anojan, while pursuing legal and diplomatic avenues on his behalf.
Rajapaksa also criticised the manner in which Gnanasara Thero was brought before court in prison clothing, arguing that the government had disregarded concerns raised by senior Buddhist clergy over the treatment of the monk.
The government has maintained that prison regulations apply to Gnanasara Thero while he is serving his sentence.
Gnanasara Thero was convicted of contempt of court and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in 2018. He was released after receiving a presidential pardon from then-President Maithripala Sirisena in 2019, but the Supreme Court subsequently invalidated that pardon, resulting in the remaining sentence being enforced.
Rajapaksa accused the government of disrespecting the Maha Sangha and warned against portraying expressions of concern over Buddhism and Buddhist traditions as racism.
He urged the President to consider exercising his constitutional power of pardon in Gnanasara Thero’s case. (Newswire)