A Sri Lankan court on Monday granted bail to a local female Swiss Embassy staffer, who has been at the centre of a controversy for making a "false complaint" about her abduction and attempting to create unrest in the country.
The staffer, identified as Garnier Banister Francis in the local media, was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department on December 16 and produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate's court, which ordered to remand her till December 30 for providing fabricated statements to the CID.
The court on Monday released her on bail.
Francis had claimed that she was abducted by some unknown persons on November 25 and was assaulted before being freed.
She also claimed that the abductors forced her to hand over sensitive information, including the names of Sri Lankans who had sought asylum in Switzerland.
Francis' abduction claim caused a diplomatic spat between Sri Lanka and Switzerland, which lodged a strong protest with the government of the island nation and called for a full scale investigation into the staffer's abduction.
The Swiss Embassy also lodged a police complaint following the accusation.
The Lankan government, which carried out a thorough investigation following a formal complaint by Swiss Ambassador Hans Peter Mock, accused the female employee of contradicting her abduction claim.
The Attorney General on December 16 instructed the authorities to arrest her for maligning the government by making a "false complaint". The staffer has earlier been banned from leaving the country.
The Swiss foreign ministry took exception to her arrest and stated that it gave rise to suspicions on Sri Lanka's law and order systems. It called for evidence on the employee faking the abduction case and was critical of the process followed.
The Sri Lankan government says her narrative of the alleged abduction is contrary to the evidence gathered by the police. The police also denies that its officer was involved in the alleged abduction.
The abductors had reportedly sought information from the staffer on a top police officer who had fled the country after the presidential election held on November 16. The Swiss authorities reportedly granted the officer and his family political asylum.
The officer under the scanner is the one who had carried out investigations against top government officials prior to 2015 when Mahinda Rajapaksa was heading the government and his family members were part of it.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
