Self Styled ‘Prophet’ Jerome Fernando has been further remanded by the Fort Magistrates Court until the 27th of December.
Fernando, who was arrested on the 1st of December 2023 , under the ICCPR act, was produced before the court today (13).
He was first placed behind bars on remand on December 01, following his arrest by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a few hours after he arrived at the premises to record a statement for the second consecutive day.
Pastor Fernando had made his first appearance at the CID on November 30 and provided a statement for around 08 hours.
A video of one of Fernando’s sermons went viral on social media, due to allegations that it included derogatory statements related to Lord Buddha and other religious figures.
Fernando then flew out to Singapore on May 14, two days before the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court banned his foreign travels.
After months of controversy over his remarks, Fernando returned to the island on the 29th of November.
He had arrived from Singapore on board a Qatar Airlines flight and left the airport through the Gold Route at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake.
As per a court directive, the CID’s Cyber Crime Investigation Division obtained a statement from the pastor within 48 hours of his arrival on the island.
