Parliamentarian Sajith Premadasa says the alleged abduction of a local staff member attached to the Embassy of Switzerland in Colombo has left a black mark on the country’s history of diplomacy.
The former Minister issued a media release today (30) to raise his concerns on the relevant incident.
It is unfair to criticize a new government right after it was assumed power as it must be given a considerable period of time to fulfill the mandate given by the public, he stated further.
Premadasa said he decided to break his silence taking into consideration the incidents that have followed soon after the new government took office.
In the meantime, Police said the Swiss Embassy has submitted the abduction incident-related information in its possession to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for the ongoing investigations.
The media division of Police, in a statement, noted that two police units from the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) and the police CCTV division were deployed to probe the incident.
The Police also denied the allegations that claim the CID is involved in the abduction incident. It was reported that the abductors had identified themselves as CID officers when they had questioned the embassy staffer. However, the Police emphasized this was a statement made by the perpetrators to mislead the investigators.
On the 25th of October, a Swiss website had quoted a local media report on the alleged incident in which a local staffer of the Swiss Embassy being kidnapped and threatened. The Foreign Ministry of Switzerland then issued a release on the incident stating that the local staffer in question was abducted by a group of unidentified persons.
As per the request made by the Swiss government from the Sri Lankan authorities to conduct a proper investigation on the incident, the CID soon launched its probes.
Meanwhile, the Swiss Embassy had issued a media release yesterday (29), stating that it has lodged a complaint on the matter. The Embassy stressed that it would render its support to the Sri Lankan authorities to proceed with the investigations.
The victim is not currently in a position to record a statement on the matter, the Swiss Embassy said citing her health condition.
