President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told senior Buddhist clergy on Thursday that he will not order officials to bypass prison laws, and that unsuitable provisions should be amended through the proper legal process.
He was speaking at the Presidential Secretariat at a meeting with the Maha Sangha. The meeting followed concern over the Prisons Department’s decision to remove the robes of Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero and bring him before court in lay attire.
“My personal wishes should not become the law,” the President said. He said prison officials had acted according to existing rules and should not be blamed for following them.
He said the prison system is governed by the Prisons Ordinance of 1877, ministerial regulations and standing orders of the Commissioner-General of Prisons. Most provisions were written with ordinary prisoners in mind, with few referring to Buddhist monks.
The Government will review the regulations and standing orders. The President said new rules should cover how monks are held in prison and taken outside, and should apply across the prison system rather than to any one monk.
Representatives of the three Nikayas thanked the President for acting on the matter. Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Minister Dr. Hiniduma Sunil Senevi and Justice and National Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara also took part.
