The Batticaloa High Court granted bail to Ampitiye Sumanarathana, an extremist Buddhist monk who incited violence against Tamils.
The Batticaloa Magistrate’s Court had previously issued an arrest warrant after Sumanarathana failed to appear before the court for the hearing on December 15.
The Batticaloa Assistant Superintendent of Police intially informed the Magistrate that Sumanarathana was untraceable. However, Sumanarathana then appeared before the High Court, and indictments were filed against him. He was immediately released on two sureties of 100,000 LKR.
The court also imposed an overseas travel ban on Ampitiye Sumanarathana , ordered him to surrender his passport to the court and also record a statement with the Batticaloa Police.
Ampitiye Sumanarathana Thera was wanted in connection with a case based on a complaint filed by Attorney‑at‑Law Dhanuka Rananjaka Kahandagamage on October 23, 2023.
In a racist outburst caught on camera that went viral, Sumanrathana threatened to slaughter Tamils.
"Every single Tamil person will be cut into pieces!" exclaims the monk. "They will all be killed! All the Tamils in the south will be cut into pieces and butchered! The Sinhalese will massacre them."
Sumanarathana has a long history of racist hate speech and assault.
The monk has threatened to kill a Tamil government official in 2016, subjecting him to verbal slander when he described him as a “Tamil dog” and a “bloody tiger”, while a Sri Lankan police officer watched. He has similarly spewed anti-Muslim hate speech. The same year he was arrested after leading a group of Bodhu Sala Sena (BBS) monks from the south into Batticaloa. Sumanarathana climbed on top of police barriers and recited hate speech against Tamils and Muslims.
In 2019, he physically assaulted a Christian man in Batticaloa whilst Sri Lankan police officers watched on.
In 2020, he threatened to choke a government official over a purported archaeological site. Colombo Gazette reported that the monk said, “tell your superior to come or I will take this pole and kill you”.
In 2021, he threatened officials in Batticaloa, as he staged an impromptu protest at the Divisional Secretariat office demanding land be allocated for the construction of a Buddhist shrine.
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