Groundviews has already published a detailed record of the violence the BBS has meted out on Ven. Wataraka Thero, the Chief Incumbent of the Rotalawela Mahaweli Maha Viharaya in Mahiyanganaya, in the Uva province. Ven. Wataraka Thero was recently found injured and bound in a ditch near Colombo recently. The Police later claimed the injuries were self-inflicted, and after he was discharged from hospital, proceeded to arrest him.

We reproduce Ven. Wataraka Thero’s last statement to the media, recorded in hospital, before he was taken in by the Police. The original video was published on Ceylon Today’s YouTube channel and a related news article on its website. The translations and subtitling into English were done to help a wider community understand the Thero’s predicament.

As journalist Dharisha Bastians noted on Twitter,