Fake news graphic attributes fabricated remarks to Sri Lanka deputy minister
- Published on February 16, 2026 at 04:34
- Updated on February 16, 2026 at 04:37
- 3 min read
- By Harshana SILVA, AFP Sri Lanka
After a Sri Lankan court sentenced 12 men to death in February 2026 over the killing of a lawmaker, social media users circulated a fabricated news graphic that falsely claimed a deputy minister said those convicted were from President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's party. The news outlet credited in the graphic called it "fake", while the official told AFP he had not commented publicly on the case.
"Among the 12 people sentenced to death, there isn't a single one from Malimawa. They are members of the JVP and Peratugami -- Deputy Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe," reads Sinhala-language text overlaid on a Facebook image shared on February 11, 2026.
It includes a picture of Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, Chathuranga Abeysinghe, and features local outlet Newswire's logo (archived here and here).
"Malimawa" -- a word that means "compass" -- refers to the country's leftist ruling coalition led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party, while "Peratugami" refers to the Frontline Socialist Party, a breakaway faction of the JVP (archived here, here and here).
The fabricated graphic was also spread elsewhere on Facebook by users who have posted content supportive of the opposition and its claim that there are divisions within the governing coalition -- an assertion rejected by the government (archived link).
It circulated after a Sri Lankan court sentenced 12 men to death on February 11 over the killing of lawmaker Amarakeerthi Athukorala during protests in 2022 that toppled ex-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa's rule (archived link).
Athukorala, who belonged to the former leader's party, was lynched after he had opened fire on people blocking his car in the town of Nittambuwa, outside the capital Colombo, investigators told the court (archived link).
Comments suggest that some users believed the news graphic was genuine, with one saying JVP members were the ones who "pushed youth to hell and ruined their lives".
But a reverse image search on Google led to an Instagram post by the Sri Lankan news outlet Newswire on February 12 denying it had published the graphic (archived link).
"Public Notice - Fake Post alert," the post reads. "A fake post is currently circulating on Facebook using the Newswire template and falsely attributed to Deputy Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe."
The outlet told AFP in an email that the false post was created using a template resembling its format without authorisation.
"We can confirm that Newswire has not published any report containing the quoted statement attributed to Deputy Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe regarding the 12 individuals sentenced to death," it added.
A search on the deputy minister's official Facebook page shows Abeysinghe published a statement on February 12 rejecting the claim (archived link).
He also told AFP via WhatsApp on the same day that he has not commented publicly about the case since the verdict.
A separate reverse image search shows that the picture used in the false news graphic was taken from a video of him speaking to reporters about the government's Clean Sri Lanka initiative after an event on January 12, 2025 (archived link).
AFP has previously debunked other false posts targeting the government and the opposition using fabricated news graphics.
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