Under the existing laws of the country the Swiss Embassy employee who is claiming to have been abducted, cannot leave the country without giving a statement regarding the alleged incident, Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told news media yesterday, adding that his ministry was still hopeful that the Swiss Embassy would co-operate with the request made and allow the alleged victim to give a statement to the Sri Lanka authorities.
Addressing a media briefing held at the Foreign Ministry yesterday the Minister said: “We have requested the Swiss Embassy to co-operate by asking the alleged victim to make a statement to the CID. Upon being notified of the incident, the IGP had immediately commenced an investigation into the alleged incident. However, in order for the investigation to proceed, it also needs a statement or complaint by the so-called victim. But up to now, no complaint or statement by the said victim has been received.”
The Foreign Ministry also summoned all Ambassadors and High Commissioners to the Foreign Ministry yesterday and explained to them the currently available details regarding the investigation conducted following a complaint made by the Swiss Ambassador regarding the abduction of an employee of his embassy on November 25. “It was brought to our notice on the 27th of November. The Prime Minister then met with all of us at the Foreign Ministry on the same day and we have assured the Swiss Embassy that we will abide by all the diplomatic immunities and all the respective processes that have been adopted in relation to such situations,” Gunawardena said.
Meanwhile, a request had been made by the Swiss Embassy to allow the alleged victim and her family to fly to Switzerland for medical treatment. “But we have advised them to follow the normal procedure. Most of the matters mentioned in the Embassy submissions have been properly checked by the authorities and we have explained to the Ambassador that there is very little truth in the main allegations. There is a lot of false allegations and misinformation being spread by various parties to bring discredit on the political leadership of our country. This is bad for the country. The statements that have been given to the law enforcement authorities as provided by the Swiss Embassy have no standing and the person claiming to have been abducted has herself, still not made a statement. Under such circumstances, how can we allow her to be taken out of the country when w don’t even know who she is?”
The Minister noted that the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Switzerland had met the Foreign Secretary and explained the current progress made in the investigations and that so far the person concerned has yet to make statement regarding the alleged incident.
Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said that his ministry was still hopeful that the Swiss authorities would give their fullest co-operation in the investigation, which had been initiated upon a request made by the Swiss Ambassador. The Minister said: “The investigation was initiated based on the details of the incident provided by the Swiss Ambassador on behalf of the alleged victim. However, there are serious discrepancies regarding the details of the alleged incident given by the Swiss Ambassador and the sequence of events obtained through phone records, Uber taxi records and CCTV footage etc obtained by the CID.”