Government says investigations confirmed that the footage was doctored

The British television carried out a footage allegedly showing Sri Lankan military summarily executing unarmed naked men, last month.

Minister for human rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, told BBC Sandeshaya that four separate technical investigations into the footage have concluded that it was a fabrication.

White tea shirt

"Especially, all four reports have confirmed that a video camcorder was used to record the footage, not a mobile phone as described by the Channel4," he said.

The footage was distributed to media, including the BBC, by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), a group recently formed by exiled media workers.

The person who shoots is wearing a white tea shirt under the uniform. Sri Lankan army do not wear white tee shirts   Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe

The minister added that the audio in the footage was later dubbed and the shooting sound was not from a close proximity.

"Further, the person who shoots is wearing a white tea shirt under the uniform. Sri Lankan army do not wear white tee shirts," the minister said.

The reports will soon be submitted to the Channel4 television, he said, and request them to apologise or if they persist prove that the reports are wrong.

"If they do not do that, we will have to seek further remedial steps including legal action," he said.