{"id":96852,"date":"2019-12-24T23:44:50","date_gmt":"2019-12-25T05:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=96852"},"modified":"2019-12-24T16:36:56","modified_gmt":"2019-12-24T23:36:56","slug":"swiss-hoax-exposed-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/24\/swiss-hoax-exposed-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Swiss Hoax exposed \u2013 Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

By : A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

It has become very\nclear now that the Swiss drama was a deliberate hoax enacted by neo-liberal\nwestern powers, the UNP and the LTTE terrorists to discredit and malign the new\nSri Lanka government headed by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. just one week after\nit came to power to    Political columns\nof both the Island\u201d abd Sunhday Times\u201d have posted details relating to Swiss\nthreats made to the new government to force to acquiesce to its dictates and\nmake it collapse before it started its programmes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Island columnist\nC.A.Chandraprema (CAC) states that Sri Lanka can never expect fair play from\nSwitzerland as it is more pro-LTTE than most other Western countries and points\nout recent actions by Swiss authorities which include court ruling saying that\nthe Tamil Tigers are not a criminal organization, acquitting 12 LTTE activists\nwho had been charged with sending 15 million Swiss Francs collected from the\nSri Lankan community in Switzerland during the war and about the sophisticated\nsystem being maintained by Swiss LTTE to raise funds from the Tamil community\nin Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CAC further points\nout that when Malaysia is rounding up LTTE activists, India and Sri Lanka are\non the alert for attempts to revive the LTTE and the whole world is on alert\nwith regard to any kind of terrorist activity because terrorism is the scourge\nof the modern world, Switzerland has justified terrorist attacks if it is to\nseek separate independent state. They have decriminalized the collecting of\nfunds in Switzerland for terrorist attacks on Sri Lanka and refuses even to\nconsider the LTTE to be a criminal group even though the FBI categorized the\nLTTE as the deadliest terrorist organization in the world in 2008. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the LTTE\nmilitary machine was smashed by Sri Lanka in 2009,its international networks\nstill remains intact and still poses a direct threat to countries like Sri\nLanka, India and Malaysia. The Swiss government however actively promotes LTTE\nterrorism and provides a safe haven for LTTE terrorists on Swiss soil. This is\nthe background in which this entire abduction drama had taken place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gania\nBarrister Frncis alias Sriyalatha Perera<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A statement issued by the the Swiss\nFederal Department of Foreign Affairs on this hoax drama has stressed: –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* An employee of the\nSwiss Embassy in Colombo has today been detained on the grounds that she\nallegedly made false statement sand they calls on the Sri Lankan judicial\nauthorities to ensure better protection of its employee\u2019s personal rights in\nany further proceedings and compliance with national law and international\nstandards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* The local employee\nhas reported that she had been abducted in Colombo to force her to disclose\nembassy-related information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

* The staffer was\nsubjected to a 30-hour interrogation and was subjected over three days despite\nbeing in poor health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* They expect the Sri\nLankan law enforcement authorities to comply with national law and\ninternational judicial standards and to ensure that the employee\u2019s rights are\nnow better protected and it calls on the Sri Lankan authorities to meet their\nobligations under applicable law and give due consideration to the employee\u2019s\npoor state of health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\n* That in this high-profile case Sri Lanka\u2019s reputation as a country that\nupholds the rule of law is at stake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Swiss government\nprior to its dealings with Sri Lanka on this case has given all related\ninformation to the New York Times facilitating them to publish an article\nhighly critical of Sri Lanka under the title “Sri Lankan Critics Fear a\nCrackdown Is Underway, and Some Flee” on November 27 before we Sri Lankans\nknew anything about this alleged incident. The said article has quoted the\nSwiss foreign ministry as its source. \nExtracted details and comments on the article will follow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CAC explains that the\nSwiss embassy took nearly two weeks after the incident to present the alleged\nvictim for a medical examination to be carried out and for a statement to be\nrecorded. During that entire period she was held incommunicado in the Swiss\nembassy in Colombo and there is no word about that in the Swiss government\u2019s\nstatement. Even though the Swiss authorities have condemned the 30-hours of\ninterrogation to which the employee was subjected over three days despite allegedly\nbeing in poor health, the Swiss have not explained why this person who was\nsupposedly in poor health was kept inside the Swiss embassy instead of being\ngiven medical help for nearly two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further states\nthat even after presenting the alleged victim for a statement to be recorded,\nthe Swiss embassy retained possession of the alleged victim\u2019s and her husband\u2019s\nphone and a court order had to be obtained asking the embassy to give that\nphone and the sim cards to the CID and there are no reports to say that the\nSwiss embassy has complied with this order. CAC states that wee have to hope\nthat the Swiss Embassy will not do to those phones and SIM cards what Hillary\nClinton had done to her phones and SIM cards \u2013 the FBI found that they had been\nsmashed to bits with hammers!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In conclusion of his\ncolumn CAC says that another possibility is that this woman may have been\nmotivated to do this by some outside party without the knowledge of the Swiss\nembassy. He claims that there seems to be a close connection between the LTTE\ngroups in Switzerland, the UNP, the TNA and the Swiss government and hence the\nnew Sri Lankan government will have to figure out a way to deal with this. From\nthe very beginning, the enemies of the Rajapaksas were the UNP and associated\npolitical parties and the Western embassies backing them. Now that the\nRajapaksas are back with a huge mandate, naturally, these local representatives\nof the global liberal mafia are doing their damnedest to undermine the new\ngovernment. We have seen this happening in other countries too where the global\nliberal mafia has been conclusively defeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CAC in a note of\ncaution states that the Swiss drama which began within days of the new\nPresident assumed office clearly shows that the Western embassies will not\nallow the new government to rule the country in peace but will do their\ndamnedest to undermine it. In last Monday\u2019s statement, the Swiss authorities\nhad indicated to the Sri Lankan authorities that it is seeking \u2018a common and\nconstructive way forward\u2019 to resolve the security incident. This position has\nbeen reiterated in the statement issued by the Swiss authorities on Thursday as\nwell. What is the resolution that the Swiss are seeking? If they want to have\nlegal action against their local staffer stopped and permission to take her out\nof the country as they have been demanding all along, that is a not a feasible\noption for Sri Lanka because we would then be portrayed as the guilty party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 We have not yet\ngot to the bottom of who is behind all this. If the government caves into the\nSwiss demands and stops legal action against this local staffer, will Sri Lanka\nbe left alone? Hardly likely. It will only intensify the campaign against Sri\nLanka. Thus, the only feasible option that Sri Lanka has in the present case is\nto come down hard on all those involved. That will at least deter any future\ngimmicks of this sort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CAC also advises that\nSri Lanka\u2019s economy too should turn east and the economy will have to be\noriented away from the West to the east consciously over the next few years so\nthat our dependency on the West is reduced and their ability to dictate terms\ngoes down proportionately. It is certainly true that it is only the Swiss\nembassy that is involved in this spat with Sri Lanka and the other Western\nembassies have not got involved. But the fact that the Swiss can get away with\nwhat they have done up to now without international condemnation, indicates\nthat Sri Lanka has no future with the West and that the wisest course of action\nis to look Eastwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sunday Tines\nPolitical Editor (STPE) states that the Swiss government has issued a virtual ultimatum urging Colombo to ensure all matters\nin the case of Garnier Banister Francis, their Assistant Migration Officer, be\ncompleted on December 16. This was with the case being taken up in the Colombo\nChief Magistrate\u2019s Court that day. In other words, the Swiss government\nexpected the matter to end there and the ding-dong controversy brought to a\nhalt and it did not work that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the officially designated Assistant\nMigration Officer Garnia Barrister Francis was dealing with visa and asylum\napplications together with her Migration Officer, a Swiss lady. In her official\ncapacity, she was privy to sensitive information on those who have obtained\nasylum as well as those who sought visas among related matters. This included\nthe case of Chief Inspector Nishantha de Silva, head of the organised crimes\ndivision of the CID. He has now obtained asylum in Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She had alleged that she was sexually abused\nand assaulted at the teacher\u2019s apartment by unknown men according to what she\ntold the CID. She had not complained to the Police because the unidentified\npersons had warned that her family members would be killed. One of these men\nhad also pointed a pistol at her, she has alleged. This is in marked contrast.\nEither in her first statement to her bosses or the later one to the CID there\nwas no reference to the purported abductors thrusting a pistol in her mouth.\nThe charge was made by former Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne as if he was A\nwitness to this hoax drama or who was a party to the abductor gang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first account she gave her Ambassador and\nlater confirmed by his deputy, Imbach, runs completely against her version to\nthe CID. She has told CID that she went to the apartment of a teacher at St\nBridget\u2019s Convent at 3 p.m. on November 25. However, she has claimed that the\nincident occurred just after 5 p.m. Surveillance camera footage in the vicinity\nhad revealed that she had left the apartment by that time. An Uber taxi in\nwhich she claimed she travelled had no records of that journey. The CID had\nalso found evidence to confirm she has told neighbours around the apartment she\nlived in Maligakanda that she and her family were leaving home since they were\ngoing abroad. Similarly, there have been many other statements that were\ncontradictory leaving the CID and the Attorney General\u2019s Department to conclude\nthat she had fabricated the incident. Exacerbating the situation, they\nconfirmed, was the fact that she was in a physically and mentally fit and\nproper condition. She was, however, in a confused state at times, said one\nsource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Monday, she remains in the Y\u201d Ward of\nthe Remand Prison at Welikade. This ward also houses a number of female drugs\nsuspects whose cases are pending in courts. This came amidst reports that\nalleged she was found in possession of a sim card and a mobile phone. Prison\nsources said that the matter was now being investigated. Meals for Banister\nFrancis were being delivered from outside. It has remained a common practice\nfor prisoners and remand prisoners to smuggle in telephones into prisons by\nbribing their way through. A group of European envoys, a diplomatic source in\nColombo said, urged Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to provide\nher with reasonably better\u201d facilities in the remand cell. He has replied that\nit was possible to do so if her counsel made a formal request \u2013 a procedure\nthat is usually followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU envoys meeting with Minister\nGunawardena had been fixed before the Swiss saga began. The envoys took up the same\nposition as the Swiss government that due process\u201d should be followed. They\nasked that Banister Francis be properly protected.\u201d The EU envoys also\ncomplained that the local media were biased\u201d and one sided.\u201d Minister Gunawardena\nhad replied that the media in Sri Lanka were free\u201d and the government had no\nrole to play in what they do, the same source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STPE said that according to Colombo based\nwestern diplomats the alleged abduction centres on Chief Inspector Nishantha de\nSilva of the CID.  The CID denied such accusations. Another suspicion is\nwhether an outside party staged it with the intention of placing both President\nGotabaya Rajapaksa and the government in an awkward position. In Colombo, the\nlatter position has gained more substance as the investigations continue. It\nhas come to light that an outside party who had allegedly colluded with the\nCID, has fled the country with his family. That a second person connected to\nthe investigations, after CI de Silva, has flown away has angered the\ngovernment leaders. ght by western countries in particular. The tragic irony is\nthat the new government is in accord, but for very different reasons. In the\nrecent years, this elite organisation of the Police department has been\npoliticised to such a degree it has lost its credibility and reputation. In the\npast four and half years, the CID was handling a part of the so-called\nhigh-profile cases. In reality it was against the ruling party\u2019s opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either agreed before or otherwise, STPE points\nout that the statements made by Banister Francis relate entirely to her two\nclaims, one to her Ambassador and the other to the CID, only over the alleged\nincident. It is facts arising from this purported incident that the CID has\nbeen reporting to the Chief Magistrate\u2019s Court. Being a Sri Lankan citizen, she\ndoes not enjoy any diplomatic immunity. Like all other citizens, during a\nPolice inquiry where they are required to make a statement, they would have to\nsign it to affirm its authenticity. There is a paradoxical situation here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mindful of any undertaking given, or on their\nown volition to avoid accusations, CID detectives appear not to have dealt with\nthe CI de Silva affaire during the interrogation \u2013 the sole cause why Bannister\nFrancis claims she was purportedly molested sexually and assaulted. If the CID\ndid so, answers to some questions would have surfaced. However, the CID\ncomplained she was not co-operating.\u201d That would have included details like\nfor how long CI de Silva has the asylum application remained under\nconsideration, who were the parties helping him and the telephone details that\nare linked. She has told investigators that her mobile phone was with the\nembassy. Of course, this is not to suggest that she has to violate\nconfidentiality to which she is sworn into by her employers. This is only to\nmake clear how knotty the issue has become for the investigators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The role of the CID has also been one of the\nbones of contention between Bern and Colombo when efforts were being made to\nurge the local staffer to make a statement. After protracted discussion, it was\nagreed that the local lawyer representing the embassy staffer would be near\nwhen her statement was being recorded. In addition, two embassy staffers were\nalso allowed to sit at a distance. They were able to see the statement being\nrecorded but were not within hearing distance. The government agreed to these\nmoves to obviate any complaints of the absence of transparency or complaints of\nimpropriety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STPEAlso\nreported that Ambassador Mock, once his Foreign Ministry\u2019s spokesperson, played\nthe role of an interlocutor shuttling among backers of Ranil Wickremesinghe,\nMahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena during last October\u2019s political\ncrisis. He said that The Sunday Times<\/em> can now reveal that\nthe role of a \u2018peace maker\u2019 came at the request of then President Sirisena. By\nthen, he had realised he had erred over the foisting of Mahinda Rajapaksa as\nPrime Minister after ousting incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe. The Supreme Court\nwas to later pronounce the move as unconstitutional. Envoy Mock was the second\ndiplomat from whom Sirisena sought help after the first person he consulted\ndeclined To intervene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notwithstanding the current deadlock, it is\nimperative that the government resolves the Swiss saga by ensuring that\nrelations reach normalcy. The pronouncements of Bern and Colombo make clear\ntheir positions are well known. The issue over a local employee should not be\nallowed to irreparably sour relations between two nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be continued\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/em>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By : A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA It has become very clear now that the Swiss drama was a deliberate hoax enacted by neo-liberal western powers, the UNP and the LTTE terrorists to discredit and malign the new Sri Lanka government headed by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. just one week after it came to power to    Political columns […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aamnizam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96852","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96852\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}