Why not arrest Ali Sabry for spreading false information?

In Sri Lanka, where there are owners for everything, the current owner for the law of the country is Minister Ali Sabry. What President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said in the beginning that he will enforce the law equally during his tenure.

If the President is true to his word, Ali Sabry should be in custody now for misleading the public.

On April 18, Ali Sabry said that acts in Singapore, Malaysia and India were being enforced against fake news. The Minister stressed that such a act would be established in Sri Lanka as well.

According to the Minister, the Cabinet meeting on April 19 approved the introduction of laws to protect against false and misleading statements made on the internet. A statement issued by the Government Information Department stated that this false information was a serious threat.

Ali Sabry misled the people by publishing false information that such a bill is implemented in India. It is true that Singapore has a bill to that effect. It was adopted on May 08, 2019. Malaysia’s Penal Code has taken steps to prevent the spread of fake news. Although there are provisions in this regard under the Information Technology Act, there is no such Act approved by the Parliament in India regarding fake news.

What the Justice Minister Ali Sabry has made is a false statement. False news are being charged under sections 120 and 485 of the Sri Lankan Penal Code as well as sections 98 of the Police Ordinance. Section 3 of the Charter on Civil and Political Rights also provides provisions for this.

The number of people arrested and prosecuted under these provisions on charges of transmitting fake news to the public has increased significantly in the last two years compared to other years.

According to Article 485 of the Penal Code, it is an offense to make a statement which is known to be untrue with the intention of intimidating the public. With the number of arrests of people expressing their views on social media on the rise, Justice Minister Ali Sabry, President’s Counsel, may not be making this statement out of ignorance. Simply put, the minister has lied to intimidate the people.

In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, such actions by Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ali Sabry are described in this manner.

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”