COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - A Sri Lankan court on Tuesday blocked a Swiss Embassy employee from leaving the country until she gives a statement to police about allegations that she was abducted and threatened in order to disclose embassy information. The Swiss foreign ministry called the Nov. 25 incident a “very serious and unacceptable attack.” The Sri Lankan government said evidence collected by its investigators did not support the sequence of events given by the embassy, and said the employee needs to be interviewed by police. Swiss State Secretary Pascale Baeriswylsummoned Sri Lankan Ambassador Karunasena Hettiarachchi and asked him to explain the evidence, the Swiss foreign ministry said Monday. “She also indicated that while Switzerland had no interest in delaying investigations by the Sri Lankan authorities, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs takes its responsibilities to its staff very seriously.”A Sri Lankan police investigator, Nishantha Silva, fled to Switzerland following the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president on Nov. 16. As defence chief, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was accused of overseeing what were known as “white van” abduction squads that whisked away critics.

Source: thestar December 03, 2019 14:48 UTC