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  • 2022-06-25 (xsd:date)
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  • This photo shows Sri Lankan opposition officials meeting with Russian diplomats -- not IMF (en)
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  • Shortly after bankrupt Sri Lanka began talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an image was repeatedly shared in Facebook and WhatsApp posts that criticised the behaviour of the island nation's officials during the meeting. But the photo has been shared in a misleading context: it has circulated in reports about a meeting between a group of Sri Lankan opposition officials and Russian diplomats -- not the IMF delegation. The image was shared on Facebook on June 22. It shows MPs Wimal Weerawansha, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Tissa Vitharana and Udaya Gammanpila -- who left parliament's ruling coalition in April -- meeting with a foreign delegation. The caption to the image states in part: Picture worth a thousand words. You can see why Sri Lanka is bankrupt. In a IMF meeting [sic] not a single minister has a pen or paper. Guessing our expert panel has memorised all the data. Screenshot of the Facebook post captured on June 22, 2022 The post circulated as the IMF opened talks with Colombo on a possible bailout. The country of 22 million people is in the grip of its worst economic crisis after running out of foreign exchange to finance even the most essential imports including food, fuel and medicines. An identical image was shared with a similar claim on Facebook here and here and circulated on the messaging service Whatsapp. Comments indicate the posts misled many social media users. One wrote: This is such a waste of time for the IMF. These idiots are not even in the government anymore. Wonder if they shared any of their conspiracies about the Western agenda. Another said: Look at their idiotic faces. Did they think the IMF is here to look at them? Russian diplomats However, a reverse search on Google found the image published here on Facebook by MP Weerawansha on June 21. His caption to the image states it was taken during a meeting with Russian diplomats in the capital Colombo; n owhere in the post does he mention the IMF. His post states in part: Leaders of the opposition parties that declared independence from government met with Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Honorable Yury Materiy to explore the possibility of acquiring fuel, gas, fertilizer and coal from the Russian Federation, as a solution to the grave shortages in Sri Lanka. Screenshot of the Facebook post captured on June 22, 2022 Responding to the misleading posts, Weerawansha told AFP the meeting did not involve the IMF . He said on June 23: Our meeting was about discussing ways to explore avenues that could be used to obtain assistance from the Russian Federation for the energy and fertilizer crisis in Sri Lanka at present. Below is a screenshot comparison of the image featured in the misleading posts (left) and the photo posted by Weerawansha (right): Screenshot comparison of the photo featured in the misleading posts (L) and the Facebook post published by Weerawansa (R) The identical image was also featured in this report by local media Hiru News about the MPs meeting with Russian diplomats. The image shows Russia's Ambassador to Sri Lanka Yuri Materiy seated in the middle among the diplomats: Russia's Ambassador to Sri Lanka Yuri Materiy seated in the middle of the delegation, marked out by AFP Materiy is also featured in several other images of the meeting published in the June 21 Facebook post by Weerawansha here and here . (en)
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