Wimal Weerawansa Was Not Arrested; Viral Arrest Photo Is From May 2026

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Wimal Weerawansa is one of the most combative voices in Sri Lankan opposition politics, and any hint of his arrest travels fast. When a court issued a warrant against him on September 21, 2026, posts quickly claimed that the National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and former MP had been taken into police custody, complete with a photo of the supposed arrest. We checked what actually happened. Here is the post that carried the claim.

Social Media Posts:

Because a photo said to show the arrest was shared along with the claim, many people assumed it was true.

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Fact-Check:

A Warrant Was Issued, but Weerawansa Appeared in Court the Same Day

The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court issued a warrant for Wimal Weerawansa’s arrest on September 21, 2026. The case related to a 2016 protest that blocked the road outside the United Nations office in Thummulla, Colombo. When the case was called that day, Weerawansa, the first suspect, did not appear in court, and the warrant was issued ordering that he be arrested and produced.

A short while after the warrant was issued that same day, Weerawansa appeared before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court with his lawyers. They told the court that he could not arrive on time because his vehicle had broken down.

His lawyer asked the court to recall the warrant. Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama directed that the request be made through a motion on September 22. More details are available here, here and here.

However, once news of the warrant broke, social media posts claimed that he had been arrested.

Our court reporter confirmed that the warrant against him was recalled, and that no arrest took place.

Police Media Division Confirmed There Was No Arrest

To confirm further whether Weerawansa had been arrested, we contacted the Police Media Division. It confirmed that he had not been arrested.

Viral Photo Shows an Earlier Arrest in May 2026

The photo shared as evidence of an arrest on September 21 was from an earlier incident. It was reused alongside news of the latest warrant, giving it a false meaning.

The photo shows Weerawansa being arrested in May 2026, after he went to the Thalangama Police Station to give a statement about an incident in which a war heroes’ commemoration was disrupted and police officers were obstructed in their duties. On that occasion, he was produced before the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court and released on bail the same day. More details are available here.

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Conclusion:

Our fact-check found that the social media posts claiming Wimal Weerawansa had been arrested were false. Although the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court issued a warrant for his arrest on September 21, 2026, the police did not take him into custody. He appeared before the court voluntarily a short while later, and the warrant was subsequently recalled, as our court reporter and the Police Media Division confirmed.

The photo shared as proof of the arrest was taken in May 2026, when he was arrested over the disruption of a war heroes’ commemoration and released on bail by the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court the same day.