Sri Lankan authorities on Thursday said they were probing a recent incident of a Swiss embassy staffer’s detention in Colombo , a day after the Swiss envoy raised the matter with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.
“The police and the CID are conducting an investigation into the alleged incident and the authorities are hopeful of the fullest cooperation of the Swiss embassy,” said Ruwanthi Delpitiya, spokesperson at Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On Wednesday, the Swiss Foreign Ministry issued a statement about a “serious security incident” involving a staff member at the Embassy of Switzerland in Colombo. “We can confirm that a local employee of the embassy was detained against her will on the street and threatened at length by unidentified men in order to force her to disclose embassy-related information,” the Ministry spokesperson said.
Observing that Switzerland regarded the incident “a very serious and unacceptable attack” on one of its diplomatic representations and its employees, the Swiss authorities had sought an immediate probe by Sri Lankan authorities.
