Arrest warrant issued after absence from coastal statue case

An arrest warrant has been issued for Balangoda Kassapa Thero after he did not attend a November 11 hearing in a case concerning an attempt to install a Buddha statue on the Trincomalee coast. He is named as the second suspect in the case.

The monk says pain and poor health prevented him from travelling to court. He alleges that police assaults caused injuries to his limbs and back. Those are his allegations, not independently verified medical findings in this report.

He made the comments during a hunger strike in Anuradhapura. The protesters are calling for a sacred-city development project to be stopped and for a presidential pardon for Gnanasara Thero.

The warrant concerns his absence from court. It does not mean the underlying allegations in the statue case have resulted in a conviction.