Colombo hospital says posts shared 'fake' medical note for leftist Sri Lankan president-elect
- Published on September 24, 2024 at 10:17
- 2 min read
- By Harshana SILVA, AFP Sri Lanka
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"Anura's depression - here's the proof. National People's Power presidential candidate Mr Anura Kumara Dissanayake took an emergency break the other day due to illness," read in part of the Sinhala-language caption to a Facebook post shared on September 9, 2024.
Dissanayake -- who heads the leftist People's Liberation Party (JVP) and National People's Power (NPP) alliance -- defeated opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe to become the island nation's next president in the recently concluded elections (archived links here and here).
The caption further read, "Indeed, he has taken treatment from a leading psychiatrist on the island."
The post shared a photo of Dissanayake alongside a picture of what appears to be a medical prescription from the local private hospital chain Asiri Health (archived link).
The Sinhala-language text on the image translated as, "Anura is diagnosed with depression, here is the evidence: revelation by the investigative journalist."
Similar claims about Dissanayake's diagnosis were shared on Facebook here and here.
Comments from users suggest they believed the claim to be genuine.
"We will get depression if they come," commented one user sarcastically.
"Not just Anura, the majority of this country has depression. That is why they are with Malimawa," commented another user referring to Dissanayake's party symbol "Compass" known locally as Malimawa.
But a spokesperson for Asiri Health told AFP the prescription was not genuine.
"These are fakes. Anyone could have done this. But this (prescription) is fake," Asiri Health's spokesperson told AFP on September 20.
A keyword search also found Facebook posts in Sinhala, Tamil and English published on Asiri Health's verified Facebook page on September 10 calling the prescription "false" (archived links here, here and here).
Below is a screenshot of the hospital chain's English post on Facebook:
Upul Ranjan, media spokesperson for Dissanayake's party, also refuted the claim.
"This is fake. There are several such false posts," he told AFP.
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