{"id":1478607,"date":"2022-05-17T17:29:38","date_gmt":"2022-05-17T21:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1478607"},"modified":"2022-05-17T17:29:42","modified_gmt":"2022-05-17T21:29:42","slug":"fact-check-does-this-footage-show-shirtless-sri-lankan-officials-being-questioned-by-the-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-does-this-footage-show-shirtless-sri-lankan-officials-being-questioned-by-the-public\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Does This Footage Show Shirtless Sri Lankan Officials Being Questioned By The Public?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-does-this-footage-show-shirtless-sri-lankan-officials-being-questioned-by-the-public%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1478607&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>A video <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100009512261173\/videos\/330817239201101\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shared on Facebook<\/a> purportedly shows shirtless Sri Lankan officials being questioned and struck by members of the public.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span>Verdict: False<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The men in the clip are prisoners that reportedly attacked a protest encampment, not government ministers, according to the Sri Lankan news outlet the Daily Mirror and a Sri Lankan journalist.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span>Fact Check:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, resigned from his position earlier in May amidst a major economic crisis, Reuters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/sri-lanka-pm-address-crisis-hit-nation-fuel-stocks-run-short-2022-05-16\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported<\/a>. <span class=\"r-18u37iz\">Sri Lanka\u2019s parliament voted against a charge of no-confidence against the prime minister May 17 despite widespread calls for his ousting, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/world\/lankan-parliament-defeats-no-trust-motion-against-president-gotabaya-rajapaksa-7921921\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Press Trust of India<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>A video shared on Facebook claims several Sri Lankan government officials were captured and harassed by members of the public amid the unrest in the country. The video shows a group of shirtless men on their knees surrounded by a group of citizens who question and strike the kneeling men.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll these naked people are ministers of Sri Lanka,\u201d reads the post\u2019s caption. \u201cThe Pakistani government has banned all news from Sri Lanka so that the people do not suffer the same fate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The video misidentifies the men kneeling on the ground. Sri Lanka-based journalist <a href=\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/dinesh-de-alwis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dinesh De Alwis<\/a> told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiatoday.in\/fact-check\/story\/fact-check-sri-lankan-ministers-not-stripped-naked-interrogated-mob-economic-crisis-1949503-2022-05-14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">India Today<\/a> they were not government ministers but rather prisoners.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the video, the men said they were prisoners from Watareka Open Prison Camp,\u201d said De Alwis. \u201cThey also said they were allowed to work on sites and on the way back to the prison from the site, a jailor took them to a protest site.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are no credible <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=sri+lanka+government+officials+Gota+Go+Gama&#038;sxsrf=ALiCzsbhF1G_Hczmjiql42kFjFk35jS4-Q%3A1652801091215&#038;ei=Q76DYpPrDMaiptQP_5ecwA8&#038;ved=0ahUKEwjTmLTv6-b3AhVGkYkEHf8LB_gQ4dUDCA4&#038;uact=5&#038;oq=sri+lanka+government+officials+Gota+Go+Gama&#038;gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBQghEKsCMgUIIRCrAjoHCAAQRxCwA0oECEEYAEoECEYYAFASWKsEYOoHaAFwAXgAgAFCiAGxAZIBATOYAQCgAQHIAQTAAQE&#038;sclient=gws-wiz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">news reports<\/a> suggesting the men in the video were government ministers. Sri Lankan-based newspaper Daily Mirror shared the same footage in a May 9 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dailymirror_SL\/status\/1523736899587772416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tweet<\/a> that also identified the men as prisoners, not government officials.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">It was reported that prisoners were bought today (10) to attack the protesters at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GotaGoGama?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#GotaGoGama<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xipnq14JW1\">pic.twitter.com\/xipnq14JW1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 DailyMirror (@Dailymirror_SL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dailymirror_SL\/status\/1523736899587772416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 9, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201c<span class=\"css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0\">It was reported that prisoners were bought today (10) to attack the protesters at <\/span><span class=\"r-18u37iz\">#GotaGoGama.\u201d <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2021\/03\/18\/fact-check-image-fatalities-protests-yangon-myanmar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Does This Image Show Fatalities From Recent Protests In Myanmar?)<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"r-18u37iz\">\u201cGota Go Gama\u201d is a protest encampment in Sri Lanka\u2019s capital formed by people opposed to Gotabaya Rajapaksa\u2019s rule, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/theprint.in\/world\/govt-did-not-see-this-coming-protestors-at-colombos-gota-go-gama-talk-of-public-support\/955514\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ThePrint<\/a>. Supporters of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party, which is the country\u2019s ruling party, reportedly attacked the encampment May 9, injuring at least 23, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.republicworld.com\/world-news\/rest-of-the-world-news\/sri-lanka-ruling-party-supporters-attack-gota-go-gama-protest-site-at-least-23-injured-articleshow.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">RepublicWorld<\/a> reported.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Check Your Fact recently <a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2022\/04\/26\/fact-check-rajapaksa-sri-lanka-time-magazine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">debunked<\/a> a false Time Magazine cover that referred to <span class=\"r-18u37iz\">Gotabaya Rajapaksa as \u201cThe World\u2019s Worst President.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A video shared on Facebook purportedly shows shirtless Sri Lankan officials being questioned and struck by members of the public.Verdict: False The men in the clip are prisoners that reportedly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":1483471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1478607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1478607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1478607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1478607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1483471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1478607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1478607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1478607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}