Former United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka appeared before the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) yesterday, after he was summoned by the CCD over a statement he had made on Covid- 19 deaths.
During a press conference on March 16, Fonseka claimed that three Covid-19 deaths had been reported in Sri Lanka at the time. However, this information was later found to be false.
A complaint has been lodged accusing Fonseka of attempting to cause fear and panic among the public.
The Police had obtained video clips of the press conference in question and a special CCD team was appointed by Acting IGP C.D Wickramaratne to probe the incident.
However, after investigations commenced, Fonseka held another press conference where he admitted that the statement was a mistake. He said that he had repeated some information he had seen on social media which had been circulating at the time. Fonseka also said during public meetings this news had been pointed out to him which he thought to be true as it appeared to be popular public opinion. At this press conference, Fonseka also said he was prepared to face the consequences.