Unofficial travel ban slapped on Swiss Embassy employee, formalised

Following the Daily Mirror's exclusive report yesterday, stating that the alleged victim of the Swiss Embassy detention case had been slapped with an 'unofficial travel ban', this ban has now been formalised by the Colombo Chief Magistrate who yesterday temporarily barred her from leaving the country till Dec.9.

The Colombo Chief Magistrate issued an order imposing a travel ban on the alleged victim until a statement is recorded from her. The ban will remain in effect until next Monday. The Daily Mirror exclusively reported on Tuesday that an unofficial alert had been issued at the airport to prevent the alleged victim from leaving the country till the end of the investigations. A top government source said attempts were underway to fly the alleged victim out of the country due to claims of her ailing health.

However, the CID is yet to gain access to the alleged victim to record her statement. A statement issued by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), yesterday said that Switzerland would support Sri Lanka in all measures to investigate and resolve the Swiss Embassy employee matter by due process of law but the concerned employee still cannot be questioned on health grounds.

Swiss State Secretary Pascale Baeriswyl, who summoned Ambassador Karunasena Hettiarachchi in Bern, has emphasized that the FDFA would support all measures to investigate and resolve this matter by due process of law. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, meanwhile when questioned by the media about an update on the incident, reiterated that an investigation into the allegation was underway, and added that CCTV visuals from the area where the alleged incident had happened had been scanned. He said the only visuals which needed to be scanned was the CCTV footage from the Japanese Embassy which is in close proximity and only after this can investigators conclude if this is true or false. (JAMILA HUSAIN)