A Sri Lankan court on Thursday 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. “The monk was sentenced to four years of hard labour and fined 100,000 rupees ($330),” a court official said. “He was sent to prison to start serving his sentence.”
