Authorities arrested Pastor Jerome Fernando, of The Glorious Church in Colombo, despite a court ordering officials to refrain from arresting him. He was reportedly released on a cash bail of 500,000 rupees and two personal sureties of 10 million rupees each and banned from leaving the country, according to Morning Star News
A Christian leader in Sri Lanka says many churches have issued statements in solidarity with Jerome Fernando and demanded his release; "We are in solidarity because today it is him, tomorrow it could be us too," said the leader, who remains anonymous. He claimed that authorities and religious leaders are gradually turning Sri Lankans' attitudes towards the Christian community. "Things are happening slowly and we don't know what will happen in the long run. The unfortunate thing is that the church is not ready for such an attack," he said.
Danish European Mission's project partner in Sri Lanka, the Evangelical Alliance, expressed serious concern about the increasing intolerance and violation of freedom of expression on December 2 in a press release about the arrest of Jerome Fernando. In the charges against Jerome Fernando, Sri Lankan authorities had stated that his actions were in violation of Sri Lanka's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Act, which is based on an ICCPR treaty designed to protect rights rather than being used to restrict them.
Samuel, Secretary General of the Danish European Mission, has followed the case from the beginning and says: "Thank you so much for your prayers for Pastor Jerome who is now out on bail. He may be out of jail, but the case is still important. Jerome and his 5,000-seat Miracle Dome mega-church are well known in Sri Lanka and receive attention from the highest political level. Nationalist Buddhist forces may misuse the case to argue for tightening legislation that will affect Christians and other minorities. Therefore, prayer is still important so that Sri Lanka can develop positively as a country where freedom of belief and expression is guaranteed."
Pastor Jerome's story in a nutshell:
On April 30, a video of Pastor Jerome Fernando's Sunday sermon went viral on social media. This led to accusations that his message had offended religious sensibilities in Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic communities.
The New Buddhist Front and Pivithuru Hela Urumaya filed complaints with the Central Intelligence Department (CID) to have Jerome Fernando arrested, in addition several believed that the Supreme Court should take action against him and gave orders to the Inspector General of Police to arrest him, according to Morning Star News
In mid-May, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe ordered the CID to launch an immediate investigation into the complaints as he believed such statements could ignite religious conflicts.
On May 26, Jerome Fernando filed a petition in the Supreme Court to prevent his arrest, saying he had been informed that his sermon did not constitute an offense under Article 10 of the Sri Lankan Constitution guaranteeing "freedom of thought, conscience and religion". He apologized to Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic priests and anyone whose religious feelings might have been hurt.
Jerome Fernando and his family fled the country two days before the Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court issued a ban on his foreign travel. In response to his departure, on November 17, the Court of Appeal reportedly ordered the CID's Cyber Crime Investigation Division to record Jerome Fernando's statement within 48 hours of his return and ordered the CID to refrain from arresting him. Pastor Jerome returned on November 29 with the understanding that he would not be arrested. However, authorities asked him to return the following day, where he was arrested under Section 3(1) of Sri Lanka's ICCPR Act 56 of 2007, which states: "No person shall propagate war or incite national, racial or religious hatred which constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence".
Jerome Fernando was produced before the Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court on the same day and the court ordered him remanded in custody until December 13, which was extended to December 27, and on December 27 it was further extended to January 3.