Sri Lankan court rules arrest of preachers ‘unconstitutional’
Supreme Court orders police and the State to pay compensation to four Jehovah’s Witnesses arrested in 2014
Updated: May 23, 2025 12:44 PM GMT
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ordered the state to compensate four Christians for violating their fundamental rights, ten years after police arrested them for preaching the Christian faith door-to-door.
The Supreme Court, on May 22, ordered the officer-in-charge of the police station in Walasmulla town to pay 50,000 rupees (some US$165) to each of the petitioners, and the state to pay an additional 25,000 rupees to each one for breaching their fundamental rights.
The historic ruling is a significant victory for the four Christians belonging to Jehovah’s Witnesses, who were arrested in 2014 after a scuffle with a Buddhist monk and some villagers in Walasmulla, a southern town.
After a decade-long court battle, the three-judge bench condemned the arrests as “unconstitutional” and “a blatant disregard for constitutional assurances.”
The Christians broke no law. Instead of protecting the Christians from insults and intimidation, police allegedly joined the harassment before arresting them, the judges observed.
“This decision is a ray of hope,” for all religious minority groups, said Pastor Sunil Pathirana of Calvary Church in Kochchikade.
The judgment is “a milestone” in civil liberties, he said. “It’s a good reminder that religious freedom isn’t just a privilege — it’s a right our Constitution promises,” he told UCA News on May 23.
The court ruling comes amid growing global concern about shrinking freedom for religious minorities in the Buddhist-majority nation, where harassment of religious minorities often goes unpunished.
Pathirana recounted previous assaults on evangelical churches, including one by a mob of around 200 people, led by Buddhist monks, who stormed the Assemblies of God and Calvary churches, throwing stones and damaging the buildings.
Pathirana said they wish to live in harmony, respecting all religions, but noted increased church attacks during the Rajapaksa regime, known for backing Buddhist extremists for political gain.
Around 70 percent of Sri Lanka’s 21.9 million people are Buddhists, while the remaining 30 percent follow other religions – Hindus (12.6 percent), Muslims (9.7 percent), and Christians (7.4 percent).
Christians have endured the pain and suffering of the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, which killed 279 in church and hotel bombings and injured nearly 500 others.
Despite multiple investigations, victims and families still await justice. The Catholic Church has alleged that successive governments and their officials are shielding those responsible for the attacks.
In 2018, the riots in Kandy‘s Digana and Teldeniya areas saw mosques being torched, causing two deaths and large-scale displacement of the Muslim community.
Pastor Nuwan Suneth said that Sri Lanka’s Constitution guarantees religious freedom and outlaws discrimination. However, “there is more pressure on the churches to comply with the state diktats based on unclear and inconsistent laws,” he said.
Suneth further alleged that many fail to report attacks on churches to the police out of fear. “But we need to speak up to safeguard our rights,” he added.
The court order is a message that “the right to worship, to preach, and to live in peace must be upheld for all, regardless of creed,” Suneth said.
