Sri Lanka’s Forest Conservation Department chief said no such transfer order was issued

The post about the forest officer,  Devanee Jayathilaka, was published here on February 21, 2020. It was shared more than 10,000 times before being deleted.

Below is a screenshot of the misleading post: 

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Screenshot of the Facebook post

The Sinhala text superimposed on the image translates to English as: “Devanee, who spoke for the heritage of both the born and unborn has been given a transfer…If her wrongdoing was standing up for you and me/ You and I have an obligation to stand up for her…./Take immediate steps to cancel Devanee’s transfer/Let’s create a trend in the country to fulfill obligations.” 

In early February 2020, a video surfaced online that showed Jayathilaka, who is an officer in Sri Lanka’s Gampaha district, refusing to comply with an order that would have allowed the construction of a playground on protected government land. The exchange between Jayathilaka and State Minister Sanath Nishantha, who pushed for the construction, quickly went viral on social media and in the mainstream media in Sri Lanka. 

A similar claim that Jayathilaka was subsequently removed from her position was also shared on Facebook here, here, here, here and here. 

The claim is misleading.

“I have not been issued any such transfer order,” Jayathilaka told AFP during an interview at her office on February 25, 2020. “This is not the first instance that I have spoken against unlawful interventions and I realise if we fulfil our job dutifully, the law always supports us.”

Forest Conservation Department director general W.A.C. Weragoda also refuted claims that Jayathilaka was ever transferred. 

“There is no truth or basis to the transfer claims. No such transfer order has been issued to Ms. Devanee,” he told AFP on March 3, 2020.

Sri Lanka’s cabinet spokesman, Information Minister Bandula Gunawardena, said last month that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the entire government support Jayathilaka and her principled objection, according to this report published by Sri Lankan newspaper the Daily News.   

“The present government headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is dedicated to safeguarding government officials,” Gunawardena said at a cabinet briefing on February 13, 2020.