CID investigates incident involving Swiss Embassy staff member

Colombo (News 1st): The Ministry of External Affairs states that the Criminal Investigation Department and the Police have commenced an investigation into the alleged abduction of an official of the Swiss Embassy in Colombo. This was in response to a request by The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland yesterday (November 27) for a swift and thorough investigation into the incident. In an official statement, The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland stated that the local employee at the embassy was threatened at length by unidentified men in order to force her to disclose embassy related information. The statement further reads Switzerland regards this incident as a very serious and unacceptable attack on one of its diplomatic representations and its employees. The release also calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice and for the guarantee of the security of the Swiss representation in Colombo and its employees to be fully restored. The statement reads, “this message was conveyed today by the Swiss Ambassador to Sri Lanka to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena together with a diplomatic demarche”.