Civil society activist Chirantha Amerasinghe says he is facing criminal charges over 2020 Facebook posts arguing that COVID-19 burials posed no health risk — a position the Sri Lankan Cabinet formally endorsed in 2024 when it apologised for the forced cremation policy.
According to the charge sheet cited by Newswire, Amerasinghe is accused of “attempting to create panic among Sri Lankans by publishing false information on Facebook regarding COVID-19 and burial practices.” He was originally arrested in November 2020 over posts opposing the forced-cremation rule, which barred Muslim and Christian families from burying their dead.
In July 2024, the Cabinet acknowledged that “burial of COVID-19 victims did not pose a health risk” and apologised to the affected communities. Amerasinghe has written to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake noting the contradiction between the apology and his ongoing prosecution and asking for an investigation into both the original cremation policy and his arrest.
The forced cremation rule, imposed in early 2020, was one of the most divisive public health measures of the pandemic in Sri Lanka. International medical bodies including the WHO had said burial was safe, and the policy drew sustained criticism from Muslim community groups, human rights organisations and UN special rapporteurs before it was reversed.
Amerasinghe’s case raises sharp questions about prosecutorial follow-through on Cabinet-era public statements: a citizen now stands accused of disinformation for arguing what the State has since formally accepted. The court handling the case and the next hearing date were not immediately specified in Newswire’s report.
