A Swiss Embassy employee who was detained by the Sri Lankan government following reports of being abducted and molested, was granted bail today.
After the local employee was put in pre-trial detention, Swiss Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis phoned his Sri Lankan counterpart Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena last week, where he “expressed his regret at the decision by the examining magistrate to place the local employee concerned in pre-trial detention, where the conditions do not take into account her state of health in any way,” according to an official statement.
The embassy employee is reported to have been abducted by a group on unknown men in Colombo last month. The New York Times reported the men "forced her to unlock her cellphone data, which contained information about Sri Lankans who have recently sought asylum in Switzerland, and the names of Sri Lankans who aided them as they fled the country because they feared for their safety after Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the presidency in elections this month". Before releasing her, they reportedly threatened to kill her if she told anyone of her ordeal.
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