A court in Sri Lanka stated that two Buddhists monks lied and supressed evidence during the defence of BBS chief and fellow monk Galagodaaththe Gnanasara, who was sentenced for contempt of court earlier this year.
Whilst Gnanasara himself had admitted to using disparaging language at a Magistrate’s court hearing in January 2016, his colleagues Kirama Devinda and Pitigala Dhamma Veneetha insisted that he had not.
“The Court ... can observe that the evidence of the accused (Gnanasara) and the evidence of this (Kirama Devinda) stand wide apart from each other just like two parallel lines in a rail track which would never converge,” said President of the Court of Appeal, Preethi Padman Surasena, with justice A. L. Shiran Gooneratne agreeing.
“The anomaly between them is irreconcilable. It is therefore the view of this court that this witness (Devinda) has uttered falsehoods to suppress the incriminatory items of evidence against the accused (Gnanasara).”
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Though the BBS chief has been sentenced for six years, the group has requested Sri Lanka president, Maithripala Sirisena to pardon him.
