• Police cites practical difficulty in establishing the ‘offence’ overseas due to differing views on what constitutes a religious insult  

The Police is of the view that it would be difficult to extradite Pastor Jerome Fernando, who allegedly made a statement insulting Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, as there is a practical problem in establishing an offence of that kind in another country, The Daily Morning learns.

Fernando caused controversy by making a statement allegedly insulting Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, and their founders. While several complaints were lodged with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) against him, Fernando left the country, and issued an apology to the public on 21 May.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, sources within the Police Department said that no arrangement has been made thus far to extradite Fernando, and that it would be difficult to get into such a process. "If someone who committed a murder or some other serious crime left the country, then, it would not have been difficult to extradite them, but, establishing an offence such as insulting a religion in another country is not something that is easy. Although we see his statement as an insult to religions, another country may not see it in that way. There are such issues that the Police have to pay attention to."

Meanwhile, when queried by The Daily Morning as to whether the Police would take steps to extradite Fernando as he is currently overseas, Police Media Spokesman Senior Superintendent of Police and attorney Nihal Thalduwa recently said that such action would be taken as per the progress of the relevant investigations. "The investigations regarding this matter are still at the initial stage. Therefore, the Police will have to act upon the relevant court orders. If an order is issued by the court, the Police will issue a red notice to bring him through the International Criminal Police Organisation," he said.

Video footage related to a sermon delivered by Fernando in front of his congregation, which was being widely circulated on social media platforms in early May, stirred controversy due to allegations that it included derogatory statements related to Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. Considering the allegations levelled against him by several parties, President and Defence Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had ordered the CID to launch an immediate investigation, after which the CID had obtained an arrest warrant and a foreign travel ban on him on 17 May. Fernando had however left the country by that time.