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.
