COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal has ordered the arrest of Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, the general secretary of the hard-line Buddhist organization Bodu Bala Sena, after he failed to appear in court in proceedings concerning a contempt-of-court sentence from which he had previously been released by a presidential pardon.
A two-judge bench comprising Justices Mayadunne Corea and Lakmali Karunanayake issued the warrant on Tuesday, Sept. 29, directing the inspector general of police to arrest Mr. Gnanasara and bring him before the court on Thursday, Oct. 1. The court also barred him from leaving the country.
The proceedings stem from a 2018 conviction arising from Mr. Gnanasara’s conduct at the Homagama Magistrate’s Court two years earlier, during a hearing related to the disappearance of the journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda.
Gnanasara was accused of entering the court premises without authorization, making statements and disrupting proceedings, conduct that the authorities said amounted to contempt of court and interference with state counsel.
In August 2018, the Court of Appeal found him guilty on four counts of contempt and imposed prison terms totaling 19 years, to be served concurrently over six years.
But Gnanasara did not serve the full sentence. In 2019, then-President Maithripala Sirisena granted him a presidential pardon, and he was released.
The pardon was later challenged in the Supreme Court by petitioners including Sandya Eknaligoda, the wife of Mr. Eknaligoda. They argued that the president’s decision was unconstitutional.
On Sept. 10, the Supreme Court invalidated the pardon. Justice Janak de Silva, delivering the ruling, said that Mr. Sirisena had failed to follow the legal requirements governing presidential pardons and had acted arbitrarily in granting clemency to Mr. Gnanasara.
The latest proceedings arose after the petitioners raised concerns that, despite the Supreme Court ruling, the prison sentence imposed on Mr. Gnanasara had not been enforced.
When the matter came before the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, Mr. Gnanasara, who had been summoned, was absent.
Senior State Counsel Sajith Bandara, appearing for the Attorney General, told the court that Gnanasara had received notice but had failed to appear without providing an adequate explanation. He asked the judges to issue a warrant for his arrest.
Anura Meddegoda, a President’s Counsel representing Gnanasara, told the court that his client was ill and had recently undergone gallbladder surgery. He said Gnanasara was recuperating but acknowledged that he could not provide medical records to substantiate the explanation at the hearing.
Mr. Meddegoda also sought additional time to study the case and make submissions.
The judges said that no medical documentation had been presented to support the claim that Mr. Gnanasara was unable to attend court. Given the nature of the contempt proceedings, they ordered his arrest and directed that he be brought before the Court of Appeal on Oct. 1.
