Garnier Banister handed two-year suspended prison sentence 

The highly controversial Swiss Embassy employee abduction case reached its end yesterday as the Colombo High Court rendered its verdict by handing Garnier Banister Francis, a former employee of the Swiss Embassy a two-year suspended prison sentence. Francis had faced charges for filing a false complaint of abduction and sexual harassment. 

The judgement was delivered by the High Court Judge Namal Bandara Balalle, taking into consideration that Francis had no previous criminal record or convictions. 

Accordingly, her prison term was ordered to be suspended for five years. Furthermore, the Court imposed a fine of Rs. 50 000. In the event of non-payment, the Judge ordered a three-month imprisonment to be enforced. 

In addition to the aforementioned rulings, the judge further mandated that the defendant pay a compensation amount of 20 lakh rupees. In the event of failure to fulfil this payment, an additional three-month imprisonment was also pronounced by the court. 

Indictments were filed against Francis in March 2021 by the Attorney General alleging that she had made a false complaint to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) regarding an abduction incident. According to the complaint, Francis had claimed to have been abducted, interrogated, and subjected to sexual harassment by an armed group near St. Bridget’s Convent in Colombo, around 25 November 2019.