Swiss Embassy says its employee in ‘deteriorating health’

• Embassy breaks silence, issues statement to clarify false info circulating on incident
• Says employee was detained on street, forced into car, and threatened at length
• Says Embassy fully cooperating with authorities
• Due to deteriorating health condition, victim currently not in state to testify
• Says no request made for extradition of CID officer and family

The Swiss Embassy last night issued a statement regarding the incident that took place on Monday (25 November) night involving one of its local employees, saying several false pieces of information are circulating in the reporting of this incident.

“On 25 November, a serious security incident involving an employee of the Embassy of Switzerland in Colombo occurred. The employee was detained against her will on the street and forced to get into a car, seriously threatened at length by unidentified men, and forced to disclose embassy-related information,” the Embassy said in its official statement.

It said that the Embassy had immediately lodged a formal complaint, and is fully cooperating with the Sri Lankan authorities in order to support Police investigations and initiate an inquiry over the case, while duly considering the health condition of the victim and their relatives.

“Due to the deteriorating health condition, the victim is currently not in a state to testify,” the statement said.

It added that it has been alleged that the Swiss Government rejected a request for the extradition of an employee of the Sri Lankan Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and his family. “No such request has been submitted,” the statement said.