Switzerland’s government has released a statement criticising Sri Lanka’s media, warning that the “current media coverage in Colombo might harm the relationship between the two countries”.
A spokesperson from the Swiss foreign affairs department added that media coverage around the case may also hamper progress in investigations, after an embassy employee was abducted, molested and threatened at gunpoint in the southern capital last month.
Sri Lanka’s media have published the name of the victim, and a media scrum has been present outside Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigations Department, where she has been forced to be interviewed by Sri Lankan authorities.
Sri Lanka’s judiciary has also ordered the embassy employee to undergo a medical examination as part of their investigation.
A travel ban has been imposed on the employee earlier this week has also been extended until December 12.
Last month, she was abducted and assaulted by men who "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,” the New York Times reported. Before releasing her, they reportedly threatened to kill her if she told anyone of her ordeal.