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Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was arrested on the 22nd and later transferred from Prison Hospital to Colombo National Hospital, is currently receiving treatment in the intensive care unit.
Several politicians visited the General Hospital to check on Mr. Wickremesinghe’s well-being. Meanwhile, many social media posts mentioned that Prime Minister Harini Amarasooriya has also visited the hospital to see the former president Wickremesinghe. However, upon our investigation, we found that these claims were false.
Social Media Posts :
A mainstream media outlet has published a post on its Facebook page and website stating, “Prime Minister has visited Mr. Ranil along with Maithree,” indicating PM Harini had visited the hospital alongside Ranil’s wife, Maithree Wickremesinghe.
Apart from this mainstream media channel, many other social media users and pages also shared this news.
Here are the comments received by these posts.
We took steps to investigate the accuracy of these statements, based on the numerous requests from readers to verify their accuracy.
Fact Check :
No other mainstream media reported that the Prime Minister had visited the Colombo National Hospital last night (24) to check on the health of Ranil Wickremesinghe.
National Hospital Colombo
We contacted the Deputy Director of the Colombo National Hospital regarding the viral claims, and he said that there is no information from the hospital administration or from the hospital security personnel that the Prime Minister has arrived at the premises.
Deputy Director further mentioned that, when he visited Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe this morning (25th), Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe had inquired about the rumour about the PM Harini visiting him, and had got a confirmation that she had not come to see him.
Hospital Sources
We inquired through several reliable sources at the National Hospital whether there were any reports of the Prime Minister visiting the intensive care unit where Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe is currently receiving treatment. They stated that Prime Minister Harini has not visited Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Prime Minister’s Media Division
We also inquired about this from the Prime Minister’s Media Division, and they categorically denied the claims, stating that the viral posts were false and that the Prime Minister did not visit the General Hospital to see Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Also, the Prime Minister’s Office cited a letter signed by the Prime Minister’s Media Secretary stating that the news published by the Hiru News website, official Facebook page, and other Hiru media networks is completely false information.
Below is the letter sent by Prime Minister’s Secretary Pradeep Saputhanthri to Hiru Media Network Chairman Reno Silva, requesting that the news be corrected immediately.
Hiru media unit
According to the Hiru article, the hospital sources had stated that the Prime Minister arrived with Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe’s wife, Maithree Wickremesinghe, and that they spent more than two hours at the hospital.
We contacted Hiru TV Digital Director Vimukthi Bandara by phone to inquire about this, and he stated that they also have an internal source for the news in question.
However, Hiru has not yet provided any sources, including photos or videos, to support these claims, either on their website or on their official Facebook pages.
After the letter issued by the Prime Minister’s Secretary, Hiru News again published a news story on social media and its website. However, it was only regarding the letter issued by the Prime Minister’s Secretary. The web article is here.
We also attempted to contact Ranil Wickremesinghe’s wife, Maithree Wickremesinghe, to inquire about this, but were unsuccessful.
Title:Did PM Harini visit Ranil Wickremesinghe at General Hospital?
Fact Check By: Fact Crescendo TeamResult: False
