The Swiss government has criticised Sri Lanka for a lack of due process following the arrest of one of its embassy employees in Colombo, after she claimed to have been abducted in the southern capital last month.
“Switzerland wishes to emphasise that in this high-profile case Sri Lanka's reputation as a country that upholds the rule of law is at stake,” said a Swiss government statement.
Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) said it was “concerned” about the arrest and said it “has repeatedly called for due process to be followed”.
“In particular, the FDFA has criticised the 30-hour interrogation to which the employee was subjected over three days despite being in poor health and the public statements by senior Sri Lankan officials questioning her account before the investigations had been completed,” a statement added.
This news comes as Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa met with Switzerland’s ambassador to Colombo this week, where he told him that the alleged abduction of a Swiss embassy employee last month was “a total fabrication”.
See the full statement here.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
