The Batticaloa Magistrate’s Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Ven. Ampitiye Sumanarathana Thera after he failed to appear for a scheduled court hearing, with police informing the court that the suspect is currently untraceable.
The warrant was issued in connection with a case filed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Act, over allegations of inciting racial hatred.
When the case was taken up, the court observed that the Batticaloa Senior Superintendent of Police had been summoned to explain the failure to arrest the accused. However, a Batticaloa Assistant Superintendent of Police appeared before the Magistrate and informed the court that Ven. Ampitiye Sumanarathana Thera could not be located.
In view of the seriousness of the charges under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Act, the Magistrate ordered that the case be taken up before the Batticaloa High Court today (17).
Ven. Ampitiye Sumanarathana Thera is wanted in connection with a complaint filed on October 23, 2023, by Attorney-at-Law Dhanuka Rananjaka Kahandagamage.
According to the complaint, the suspect allegedly made aggressive and inflammatory remarks targeting the Tamil community in Batticaloa, including threats made in the presence of police officers that “every Tamil person living in the South will be cut and killed.”
