Fabricated news graphic attributes false remarks to Sri Lankan lawmaker

"The trillions of rupees spent on maintaining the old scoundrels who have been destroying the country will, from now on, be passed on to the children of the country," reads a Sinhala-language Facebook post shared on September 19, 2025, referring to former presidents and politicians. 

It also contains an image of lawmaker Lakmali Hemachandra next to text that reads, "With the funds allocated next year from expenses related to former presidents, we will build 1,000 new technology laboratories in 1,000 schools within a year," falsely implying she made the remarks (archived link). 

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Screenshot of the false post captured on October 13, 2025 marked with a red X by AFP

Hemachandra is part of the ruling National People's Power, which came into power in 2024 on a promise to tackle corruption and recover stolen assets (archived link). 

The false post was shared after the Sri Lankan parliament voted on September 10 to evict former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and two others from state-owned mansions under austerity measures introduced by the government (archived link). 

Ruling coalition lawmakers have also voted en masse to repeal a 1986 law that granted former leaders luxury accommodations and secretarial services (archived link).

The false post has spread elsewhere on Facebook and was shared hundreds of times. 

But Hemachandra told AFP by WhatsApp message on October 8 that the quote is fabricated, and that she did not make the statement.

An examination of the graphic in the false Facebook post also shows that its style closely resembles that of the Sri Lankan news site Asian Mirror (archived link). 

The outlet has not published such a news item quoting Hemachandra in either Sinhala or English, news editor Methmalie Dissanayake told AFP on October 7 (archived here and here). 

She added that Asian Mirror last published a story related to Hemachandra on September 10, reporting on her saying the law that scrapped government perks for former leaders did not also remove security details provided to them (archived link). 

Asian Mirror has also shared the report on its Facebook page with a news graphic that reads, "No provision to remove fmr presidents' security -- Lakmali Hemachandra" (archived link). 

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Screenshot comparison of the fabricated Facebook post (left) and the original post published by the news outlet Asian Mirror on its official page

AFP has previously fact-checked other false claims about Sri Lanka.