{"id":95911,"date":"2019-12-02T01:20:09","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T08:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=95911"},"modified":"2020-02-04T16:08:22","modified_gmt":"2020-02-04T23:08:22","slug":"sri-lanka-must-call-all-foreign-embassy-heads-and-diplomats-brief-them-on-the-swiss-temporary-kidnapping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/02\/sri-lanka-must-call-all-foreign-embassy-heads-and-diplomats-brief-them-on-the-swiss-temporary-kidnapping\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka must call all Foreign Embassy Heads and Diplomats &amp; brief them on the Swiss \u2018temporary kidnapping\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Until\nsuch time the investigations officially conclude after the Swiss release a Sri\nLankan National kept inside the embassy compound since 25<sup>th<\/sup> November\n2019, it is only correct that the distortions and lies being spread is\ncorrected officially by the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry. Invite all diplomatic\nmission heads &amp; key staff \u2013 explain the timeline \u2013 do a presentation and\nask them to raise counter questions. Follow full transparency methods and show\nto the world how Sri Lanka is conducting the investigations and how embassy is\nwithholding the victim from being questioned. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall\nobjective was to accuse the Govt of abducting a Swiss employee <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Timeline of incidents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>24 Nov&nbsp;\nSunday<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>CID CI Nishantha Silva secretly flees\nSri Lanka with wife &amp; 3 children<\/strong>\nto Switzerland. Visa given by Swiss embassy without police approval letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>25 Nov Monday<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Female local staffer of Swiss Embassy \u2018temporarily\nabducted\u2019 &amp; threatened<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>(note news not made public in Sri Lanka\nbut relayed via foreign media-why?)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>26 Nov\/Tue Web article<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>employee\nstationed in the Swiss embassy reportedly abducted in a white van\u201d and \u2018released\nafter two hours\u2019 \u2018abductee questioned about Nishantha Silva who worked in the\nCID\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.lankanewsweb.net\/67-general-news\/52443-Swiss-Ambassador-to-meet-Premier-regarding-an-abduction\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>26 Nov\/Tue Web article<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>NZZ Swiss news media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u2018attack\u2019<\/strong> connected to <strong>t\nhigh-ranking Sri Lankan police inspector who took \u2018asylum in Switzerland\u2019<\/strong> <strong>\u2018due to death threats\u2019<\/strong> because he had\nbeen <strong>investigating corruption and rights\nviolations in connection with the entourage of newly-elected President Gotabaya\nRajapaksa\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>27 Nov\/Wed Web media swissinfo.ch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.swissinfo.ch\/eng\/diplomatic-incident-_swiss-embassy-worker-kidnapped-and-threatened-in-colombo-\/45397440\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Swiss\nForeign Ministry Spokesman Pierre-Alain Eltschinger<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Written\nstatement to swissinfo.ch claims<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>woman was threatened\u201d <\/li><li>forced to disclose \u2018embassy-related information\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>27 Nov\/Wed Web media BBC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-50578481\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Employee\nof the Swiss embassy in Sri Lanka <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>detained against her\nwill on the street and threatened at length\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>27 Nov\/Wed Web media NYT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New\nYork Times<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Swiss embassy employee is abducted and\nasked about asylum applications and investigators are banned from leaving just\ndays after Gotabaya Rajapakse is elected\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u2018forced to hand over\nsensitive embassy information\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018<strong>men forced her to unlock\nher cellphone data, which contained information about Sri Lankans who have\nrecently sought asylum in Switzerland and the names of Sri Lankans who aided\nthem as they fled the country because they feared for their safety after\nGotabaya Rajapakse won\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>police investigator <strong>fled\nto Switzerland with his family on Sunday\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>27 Nov\/Wed Web media TamilGuardian<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.tamilguardian.com\/content\/swiss-ambassador-meet-sri-lankan-prime-minister-after-embassy-employee-abducted\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u2018Switzerland\nembassy employee was reportedly abducted in a vehicle, detained for two hours\nand then released\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>27 Nov\/Wed Web media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According\nIsland newspaper<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Swiss\nambassador Colombo came to inform incident to PM Mahinda Rajapakse at his\nWijerama Mw \u2013 GLP, PM\u2019s foreign affairs advisor and acting IGP were present.\nVictims identity was not disclosed by envoy<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>28 Nov\/Thurs Web media Adaderana<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttp:\/\/www.adaderana.lk\/news_intensedebate.php?nid=59331\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Quoting Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>incident\nconveyed on 26<sup>th<\/sup> Nov (by phone or official statement)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>28 Nov\/Thurs Web media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Island\nnewspaper\/Shamindra Ferdinando<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>GOSL had directed CID to investigate\nbut was yet to receive support from Swiss embassy<\/li><li>Swiss refused police request to reveal\nvictims\u2019 identity <\/li><li>GOSL is yet to seek clarification from\nSwizerland embassy re CID inspector fleeing SL<\/li><li>Sources claim a senior navy officer who\ngave evidence against Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Admiral Ravi Wijegunaratne,\ntoo, reached Switzerland.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>29 Nov\/Fri Web media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Island\nnewspaper\/Shamindra Ferdinando<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Swiss\nembassy statement claims employee not in condition\nto testify due to \u2018deteriorating health\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>29 Nov\/Fri<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the\nIsland newspaper\/ Shamindra Ferdinando <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Swiss\nembassy statement denied ever receiving a request\nfrom Sri Lanka to extradite De Silva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>30 Nov\/Sat Web media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Island\nnewspaper\/ Shamindra Ferdinando<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>CI Nishantha &amp; family stayed in luxury hotel on\n23Nov before flying to Switzerland 24Nov<\/li><li>Swiss Govt requests to remove abductee to Switzerland<\/li><li>Govt officials said Swiss embassy did not file police\ncomplaint (5 days after incident)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1 Dec Sunday Web media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sunday Times Newspaper says incident occurred\nafter 5p.m. on Monday <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>near\nthe Japanese embassy &amp; Australian High Commission &amp; local staffer had\nwalked out of school to her office (Is school &amp; office open at this time?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>White Toyota Corolla CAR<\/strong> with <strong>5\npersons abducted her<\/strong> (4 persons including herself in the backseat!) <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttp:\/\/www.sundaytimes.lk\/191201\/columns\/swiss-embassy-employee-abduction-shakes-new-govt-380360.html\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1 Dec Sunday<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Secretary\/Foreign Relations Ravinatha\nAryasinha together with Secretary\/Defence Major General (Retd.) Kamal Gunaratne\nand relevant officials met with the Ambassador for Switzerland in Sri Lanka\nHanspeter Mock and the Deputy Chief of Mission<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SL Foreign Ministry Press Release <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>says\nsequence of events\/timeline of abduction given by Swiss embassy on behalf of\nlocal staffer do not corroborate with her movements as evidenced by witness\ninterviews\/technical evidence, uber records, CCTV footage, telephone records,\nGPS data<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SL\nForeign Ministry requests Swiss embassy allow law enforcement authorities to\ninterview her and examine her by a SL medical officer as she claimed injuries\nwere sustained during abduction<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>25<sup>th<\/sup>\nNov: Questions for Swiss Embassy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How\ndid she break the news of this assault to the Embassy?<\/li><li>If\nas per Sunday Times newspaper the incident happened at 5p.m. \u2013 if so, that means\nshe would have returned to Gregory\u2019s Road at only 7p.m. \u2013 was the Embassy\nopened at this time &amp; who was in the premises other than the security?<\/li><li>Did\nyou take a statement from her \u2013 is this filed?<\/li><li>Did\nyou inform the Sri Lanka Police or Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry of incident that\nevening itself (25<sup>th<\/sup> Nov) if not why didn\u2019t you? <\/li><li>Why\ndid you decide to keep her inside Embassy compound without sending her home\nthat evening? <\/li><li>What\nwas the reason given to the family? Did the family come to visit her on 25<sup>th<\/sup>\nNov? If so are they also inside the embassy compound <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>26<sup>th<\/sup> Nov: Questions to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lankanewsweb.net\">www.lankanewsweb.net<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What\nis the source to claim the Swiss local employee was abducted to be questioned regarding\nNishantha Silva who worked in CID?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>26<sup>th<\/sup> Nov: Questions for NZZ\nSwiss news media:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>When, how and by whom<\/strong> did NZZ Swiss news hear about this\nabduction?<\/li><li>With\nwhat evidence is NZZ Swiss news claiming the abductee was \u2018attacked\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>27<sup>th<\/sup> Nov: Questions for\nSwiss Foreign Ministry\/swissinfo.ch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Is\nthis written statement to swissinfo.ch from the Swiss Foreign Ministry AFTER\ntaking an official statement from the abductee?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>27<sup>th<\/sup> Nov: Questions for New\nYork Times<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What\nis the source that the abductee was forced to hand over sensitive embassy\ninformation?<\/li><li>What\nis the source for the statement \u2018<strong>men\nforced her to unlock her cellphone data, which contained information about Sri\nLankans who have recently sought asylum in Switzerland and the names of Sri\nLankans who aided them as they fled the country because they feared for their\nsafety after Gotabaya Rajapakse won\u2019<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>How does NYT know staffer was questioned\nabout Nishantha Silva<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>27<sup>th<\/sup> Nov: Questions for TamilGuardian<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What\nis the source to claim abductee was abducted in a vehicle?<\/li><li>What\nis the source to claim abductee was questioned about Nishantha Silva?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>28<sup>th<\/sup> Nov: Questions to Sri\nLanka Foreign Ministry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Adaderana\nnews portal claims incident was conveyed to Foreign Ministry on 26<sup>th<\/sup>\nNov \u2013 to whom was it conveyed, by whom in the Swiss embassy &amp; was it by\nphone\/email or official letter?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Questions to Norway <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Island Newspaper\nsources allege Norway secretly moved out Sri Lankans including LTTE cadres &nbsp;and Rajapakse administration sought\nexplanation from former Norwegian ambassador in Colombo Hilde Harasldstad.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Questions for Swiss\nEmbassy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>On\nwhat grounds did Swiss give visa to Nishantha Silva who did not have an\nofficial letter to travel overseas (Swiss are one of the strictest countries to\ngive visas) <\/li><li>Who\narranged visa and tickets for Nishantha and entire family to travel on 24<sup>th<\/sup>\nNov \u2013 a Sunday? <\/li><li>What\nis the relationship Nishantha &amp; Swiss Embassy have been having in secret\nand for how long? <\/li><li>How\ndid the abductors know this local staffer was handling secret visa\/asylum papers?\n&nbsp;<\/li><li>NYT\nsays abductee had her phone unlocked which contained information about Sri\nLankans seeking asylum to Switzerland and names of Sri Lankans helping them to\nflee \u2013 does Swiss embassy allow such information to be on mobile phones?<\/li><li>How\ncome the abductors &amp; the Swiss embassy only know her identity but everyone\nelse doesn\u2019t?<\/li><li>How\ncome a health ailment that did not exist from 25<sup>th<\/sup> Nov suddenly\nresult in \u2018deteriorating health\u2019 on 30<sup>th<\/sup> November when Sri Lanka\nGovt insisted on questioning her? <\/li><li>If\nshe is ill and she has been sexually molested as alleged given that she is a\nSri Lankan citizen, Sri Lanka must be allowed to examine her and give treatment\nto her. Why is the Swiss embassy not allowing this? <\/li><li>If\nshe is too ill to give a statement how can she travel to Switzerland which is a\nminimum flight hour time of 14hours and with transit may even be more?<\/li><li>On\nwhat grounds did Swiss give entry permit to a naval officer who gave evidence\nagainst Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Admiral Ravi Wijegunaratne, &nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Questions to victim (whoever she is \u2013\nif she does exist)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Did\nyou take a hired cab to drop child at school around 5p.m. on Monday 25<sup>th<\/sup>\nNov 2019 <\/li><li>If\nso, why did you not drop the child at school which was walking distance from\nSwiss embassy and get yourself dropped at the embassy \u2013 why walk to the\nembassy?<\/li><li>Why\ngo to an embassy when it is closed &amp; only security is inside \u2013 local recruits\nare not allowed to open embassy offices <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Our Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Was\nthis drama an attempt to divert guilt away from Swiss for giving asylum to CID\nCI Nishantha Silva to flee Sri Lanka &amp; earlier another Naval officer to\nflee to Switzerland?<\/li><li>Does\nthis \u2018victim\u2019 actually exist or is it a fabricated story?<\/li><li>Did\nthe victim create this story to claim refuge in Switzerland similar to an\nearlier attempt by another Swiss local staffer in 2009?<\/li><li>Did\nthe victim and Swiss embassy jointly connive this drama to embarrass the Govt\nand the new President?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Gathering all foreign mission heads \u2013 putting the truth on the table \u2013 having a panel answer their questions will put an end to their spreading lies and distortions. Same should be done to international media outlets too<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Shenali D Waduge<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Until such time the investigations officially conclude after the Swiss release a Sri Lankan National kept inside the embassy compound since 25th November 2019, it is only correct that the distortions and lies being spread is corrected officially by the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry. Invite all diplomatic mission heads &amp; key staff \u2013 explain the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1498,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shenali-waduge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95911\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}