Sri Lanka: Pastor Finally Granted Bail Pending Trial for “Outraging Religious Feelings” in an Online Sermon

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A church leader in Sri Lanka has been granted bail after spending a month in prison pending trial on a charge of “outraging” the “religious feelings” of Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic communities in a sermon he gave that was posted online, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.

Pastor Jero me Fernando, senior overseer of The Glorious Church in Colombo, was arrested on Dec.1 following multiple complaints of offense caused by the sermon given in May, MSN reports.

Fernando was arrested under Section 3(1) of Sri Lanka’s ICCPR Act 56 of 2007, which provides: “No person shall propagate war or advocate national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence,” MSN said. In a Dec. 2 statement about Fernando’s arrest, the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) said Christians in Sri Lanka are becoming increasingly subjected to intolerance and violations of freedom of expression.

“The ICCPR Act has often been invoked to protect religions or beliefs against criticism or perceived insult, rather than prioritizing the protection of human rights and shielding vulnerable groups from incitement to violence,” the NCEASL stated.

Echoing the concerns of the NCEASL, a Christian leader whose name is withheld for security reasons told MSN that Sri Lankan believers are facing intensifying hostility and that the church is not ready to deal with it. “We stand in solidarity [with Pastor Fernando] because today it is he, tomorrow it could be us as well,” the Christian leader said. “Things are happening slowly, and we don’t know what is going to happen in the long run.The unfortunate part is that the church is not ready for such an assault.”

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