She was detained by the authorities on suspicion of anti-state activities.

The author, Sarah Malanie Perera who is a resident in the Gulf state of Bahrain, had recently written two books about her conversion.

anti-state activities

At the time of arrest, Sri Lankan police spokesman told the BBC he believed there were allegations that she was involved in anti-government or anti-state activities.

State prosecution stated the books deliberately attacked Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism while praising Islam.

Police requested the courts to allow the author to be held in custody until further investigations into the contents of the books are carried out.

The defence lawyer Senaka Perera argued that the prosecutors had proceeded without sufficient knowledge of the contents of the books.

converted to Islam in 1999

According to media reports from the Gulf, the author converted to Islam in 1999 and that her parents and sisters also made the conversion.

She was apprehended while trying to send books out of Sri Lanka through freight. A member of staff was affiliated to a Sinhala Buddhist extremist party had reported the book to police.