Ankara to file defamation case against Yamu.lk

Ankara, an up-market Turkish restaurant in Colombo yesterday said they are filing a Rs.150 million defamation suit against Yamu.lk, a popular food blog and content-based company and its Founder/Director Indi Samarajiva.

Anakara in a media communiqué said the suit is for defamation of character in an article written regarding the restaurant on Yamu.lk website. The company said prior to the lawsuit, which they will file today, they have filed a complaint at the Bambalapitiya police station against Yamu.lk.

“Yamu.lk has used a writer named Halik to run down the restaurant calling it an ‘up market brothel’ in reference to its unique interior designs,” Ankara CEO Ramzi Ali said.

“The work was done by a gifted artist and has been appreciated by our frequent clientele. We were extremely surprised when our investors in the UAE came across the blog post during a web presence assessment, and were highly taken aback by the unprofessional reference in the article,” he added. 
Ali said Ankara has plans to expand to Kandy and Galle while is also setting up mobile units at high-end malls in Sri Lanka. A further plan to take the franchise to Bangladesh, Maldives and Pakistan through a US $ 1 million investment is also on the cards.

“Such unprofessional reviews by those with no qualifications in food reviewing are extremely detrimental to businesses,” he added. 

When contacted by Mirror Business, Yamu Director/Founder Indi Samarajiva said they are proud of their unbiased reviews.  

“Honestly, at Yamu we might give a bad review sometimes. That’s our opinion. That doesn’t mean it’s like the holy truth. We can be wrong about things, but I would say that calling the cops is an unusual and irrational reaction, but it certainly makes for an interesting story,” Samarajiva said.

“Sri Lanka has freedom of speech under Article 14 of the Constitution. So you can write your opinion about things including restaurants. It’s certainly not a criminal matter. It could be like a civil matter and you could sue anybody for anything but it definitely doesn’t have to get the police involved. I think it’s a waste of the police’s time. 

I told the police I wanted to talk to my lawyer so I’m going in tomorrow at 11.30 a.m. I’ve been in constant touch with the police. I just needed a day to talk to my lawyer,” he added. 

Interestingly, in an earlier occasion, reviewing a café previously located at the same place where Ankara is currently located, Yamu.lk had run into trouble, according to Samarajiva.

“I had to go to the cops and sit with them for a while. Nothing happened, there was a police report,” he quipped..