Viral Video Claiming Recent Destruction of President Wickremesinghe’s Banner is Misleading

Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel

As Sri Lanka's presidential election approaches, reports of election law violations have surfaced. However, some old incidents are being reshared on social media, misleading the public by presenting them as current election law violations.

Social Media Posts

A video circulating on social media shows a group of people destroying a banner featuring President Ranil Wickremesinghe in broad daylight. Many users claim this is a recent incident related to the upcoming presidential election. We conducted a thorough fact-check to verify the authenticity of the claim.

FB | Archived

Local Verification:

To clarify the location and date of the incident, we reached out to local journalists in the area:

K. Kotagala, a provincial newspaper reporter from Walasmulla, confirmed that no recent incident involving the destruction of a Wickremesinghe banner had occurred in the area. He suggested that this might be an older event.

G. Gunarathna, a journalist and television correspondent from Walasmulla, identified the location as the Tangalle bus stand, near the clock tower. He confirmed that no such incident had been reported recently but noted that similar acts occurred during the 2022 "Aragalaya" protests.

W.G. Chandrasena, a television journalist from Tangalle, corroborated these details, adding that the video most likely depicts an event from 2022 when protestors removed banners and billboards of politicians during the height of the protests.

S.P Advin, a newspaper reporter of Tangalle, also said there were no such recent incidents there.

Historical Context:

During the 2022 "Aragalaya" protests, which called for the resignation of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed Prime Minister and later became the acting president following Gotabaya's resignation. At that time, banners and cutouts of Wickremesinghe were put up by his supporters to celebrate his new position, but some of these were torn down by protesters in some areas.

Video Analysis:

The low-resolution video appears to have been recorded on a mobile phone, with unclear letters on the billboard. Based on the location, journalist confirmations, and lack of recent reports, the video is likely from 2022 and is not connected to the upcoming presidential election.

Conclusion

The viral video claiming that a banner of President Ranil Wickremesinghe was recently destroyed in relation to the upcoming election is misleading. The event shown in the video is most likely from 2022 during the "Aragalaya" protests, and no such recent incident has been reported in the Tangalle or Walasmulla areas. As per our analysis, the location is near the Thangalle bus stand and clock tower.