Lanka's Supreme Court rejects firebrand Buddhist monk's appeal against six-year jail

Sri Lanka's Supreme Court on Friday rejected firebrand Buddhist monk Galagodaatte Gnanasara's appeal against his six years imprisonment in a contempt of court case.

A magistrate court in August had handed a six-year jail term to the Buddhist monk accused of inciting violence against Muslims, holding him guilty of contempt just months after he was convicted of intimidating the wife of a missing journalist.

Gnanasara was sentenced to 19 years of rigorous imprisonment, to be completed within 6 years, over a 2016 incident when he interrupted a court hearing on the abduction of the journalist in which military intelligence officials were accused.

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the magistrate court's decision by refusing to grant leave to proceed with the case.

The monk leads the hardline Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or Buddhist Power Force which has been accused of stirring up violence against Muslims and Christians, allegations he has denied.

Gnanasara was notorious for his anti-Muslim action and known as the Sri Lankan version of Myanmar's Wirathu, a Buddhist monk who led a similar campaign in Myanmar.

Gnanasara has been in and out of hospital since his imprisonment.