Swiss Embassy employee abduction: 'Timelines do not match'

The timeline of incidents presented by the Swiss Embassy on the abduction of their employee did not match the actual movements of the victim, the Foreign Ministry said.

Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha, and Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Kamal Gunaratne had conveyed this information to Swiss Ambassador Hanspeter Mock during a meeting yesterday (Dec 1).

The Ambassador had been presented with clear evidence that the sequence of events provided by the Embassy “did not in any way correspond with the actual movements of the alleged victim on that date’’.

The Foreign Relations Ministry, in a statement, said the victim’s actual movements had been tracked down using witness interviews, UBER travelling records, CCTV footage, telephone records, and GPS data.

Considering the ‘’incontrovertible’’ evidence, it had been decided to further investigate the alleged incident to establish the veracity of claims in this regard.

This would mean that the alleged victim “will have to be interviewed by the law enforcement authorities” and be produced for a medical test by a Judicial Medical Officer.

The ministry requested the Swiss Embassy to cooperate with the Sri Lankan government in the investigation process.

An investigation into the incident had been launched by the Criminal Investigation Department after a local Swiss Embassy employee had been allegedly abducted last week and forced to disclose embassy-related information, the Swiss Embassy said.