YouTuber Sepal Amarasinghe further remanded

Sepal Amarasinghe, the YouTuber who was recently in hot water over his controversial statements about the Sacred Tooth Relic, has been further remanded until February 21.

Amarasinghe was produced before the Colobmo Magistrate’s Court this morning (Feb. 14).

The YouTuber was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on January 05, after making several controversial statements about the much-venerated Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy.

Amarasinghe’s claims led to a chaotic uproar amongst Sri Lanka’s predominantly Buddhist society, officials of the CID highlighted, while the Director General of Department of Archaeology also asserted that the slanderous statements in question were a grave wrongdoing.

Against this backdrop, the chief prelates of Malwatta and Asgiriya chapters, Most Ven. Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thero and Most Ven. Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thero wrote to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, raising concerns about the offensive statements made by Amarasinghe, and urged the government to take necessary measures to nip the matter in the bud.

Meanwhile, investigators have uncovered that Amarasinghe had received funds from persons overseas, regarding which the CID is conducting further probes under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and the Convention on the Suppression of Terrorist Financing Act.

Pursuant to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act, No. 56 of 2007, propagating war or advocating national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence is a punishable offense with rigorous imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.