COLOMBO: A Sri Lankan court jailed a politically influential, firebrand Buddhist monk on Thursday, putting him behind bars for a second time for insulting Islam and stoking religious hatred in the island nation.

Galagodaatte Gnanasara was sentenced on Thursday to nine months for his anti-Muslim remarks, which date to 2016. He was previously jailed last year on a similar charge of disparaging Sri Lanka’s minority Muslims, who account for just over about 10 percent of the 22 million population.

The monk is a close associate of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who made him the head of a panel to reform Sri Lanka’s legal system to ensure religious harmony in 2021.