– The Most Venerable Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Mahanayake Thera of the Asgiriya Chapter has called for the release of imprisoned Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera.

The Mahanayake Thera made the remarks when a delegation of senior prison officials, including Commissioner of Prisons (Operations and Media) Senaka Palletenna, paid a courtesy call on him at the Asgiriya Maha Viharaya today (16).During the meeting, the Mahanayake Thera inquired whether any procedure was in place to secure Gnanasara Thera’s release.In response, Commissioner Palletenna said no definitive decision had been made on the matter to date.The prison officials subsequently paid a courtesy call on the Most Venerable Tibbatuwawe Sri Sumangala Mahanayake Thera of the Malwathu Chapter.During the meeting, the Malwathu Mahanayake Thera proposed establishing a separate facility to accommodate Buddhist monks who are remanded or imprisoned over various allegations.He said the matter had been discussed previously but that no final decision had been reached.

The Mahanayake Thera stressed the need for a separate facility where monks could be accommodated appropriately and perform their religious observances without hindrance.