bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Associated Press

Sri Lankan police arrested a Swiss embassy employee on Monday who said she was abducted and was threatened to disclose embassy-related information.
Police said they arrested Gania Banister Francis on suspicion that she made statements that caused disaffection toward the government and fabricated evidence in her abduction claim. A court approved her detention.
The Swiss foreign ministry has called the November 25 incident a “very serious and unacceptable attack” and summoned Sri Lanka’s ambassador to demand an investigation.
The government has insisted that evidence collected by its investigators did not support the sequence of events given by the embassy.

Sri Lanka also rejected a request by the embassy to fly Francis and her family to Switzerland.
Francis was summoned to the Criminal Investigations Department to make statements over five days and was subjected to medical tests and a psychiatric analysis.
The Attorney General’s Department told the Criminal Investigations Department earlier Monday that there is no evidence to support Francis’ claim that she was abducted, subjected to coercion or sexual harassment.
A Sri Lankan police investigator, Nishantha Silva, fled to Switzerland following a November 16 election in which President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected to power.
The China question in Sri Lanka’s presidential election
Silva had been investigating alleged abductions, torture, killings and enforced disappearances of journalists and activists when Rajapaksa was the defence chief under his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency.
As defence chief, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was accused of overseeing what were known as “white van” abduction squads that whisked away critics. Some of them were returned after being tortured, while others were never seen again.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa has denied the allegations.


8 Asian surfing spots to ride the waves, from Phuket to Sri Lanka

South Asia needs to get its political house in order to turn around its economy

Sri Lanka rescues 102 people, thought to be Rohingya refugees, adrift on fishing boat

Hong Kong demand for flexible office space grows as market in Singapore slumps: report

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka arrests Swiss embassy worker Gania Banister Francis, saying she faked abduction

Swiss embassy worker Gania Banister Francis (in pink shawl) is escorted to a magistrate court after her arrest in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Sri Lankan Swiss embassy worker Garnier Banister Francis, covered in pink shawl, holds on to an unidentified foreign national as Sri Lankan police officers escort her to a magistrate court after her arrest in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Dec. 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka’s new president Gotabaya Rajapaksa names China-friendly brother as prime minister

Newly-elected Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (right) and his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa. File photo: AP

In this photo taken on November 7, 2019 Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe speaks to supporters during an election campaign rally in support of New Democratic Front presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa in Colombo. - Main opposition candidate Gotabhaya Rajapakse and Sajith Premadasa from the ruling United National Party (UNP) are in a close race ahead of the November 16 polls. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI / AFP)

epa08008225 A handout photo made available by the President Media unit shows Sri Lanka's new President Gotabaya Rajapaksa assumes duties as the 7th Executive President of Sri Lanka, at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 19 November 2019. EPA-EFE/PRESIDENT MEDIA UNIT HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Sri Lanka’s tilt towards China expected to be ‘low key’ as new president Gotabaya Rajapaksa takes the reins

Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Photo: Reuters

Supporters of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party presidential candidate Gotabhaya Rajapaksa shout slogans during a campaign rally in Homagama on November 13, 2019, ahead of the November 16 presidential election. - Police stepped up security across Sri Lanka on November 13 over fears of violence on the final day of campaigning for the fiercely contested presidential election, officials said. (Photo by Lakruwan WANNIARACHCHI / AFP)

Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, left, and former Defense Secretary and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa wave to supporters during a party convention held to announce the presidential candidacy in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019. Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was a livewire in Sri Lanka's military campaign to end a long civil war but faces allegations of human rights violations, has been nominated as the opposition's candidate for the presidential election scheduled for later this year. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

epa07903462 United National Front presidential candidate, Sagith Premadasa leaves after he handed in his nomination papers for the Presidential Election at the Election Secretariat at Rajagiriya in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 07 October 2019. A record 35 nomination papers were handed in for the Presidential Election scheduled to be held on 16 November 2019. Six among the 41 prospective candidates who had placed their deposits did not hand in their nomination papers. EPA-EFE/M.A.PUSHPA KUMARA

TO GO WITH SriLanka-economy-infrastructure,FOCUS by Amal Jayasinghe In this photograph taken on February 10, 2015, shows a general view of the port facility at Hambantota. From a multi-million dollar airport ignored by airlines to a lavish cricket stadium rejected by players, Sri Lanka's new government is mulling the future of a string of white elephants. AFP PHOTO / LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI / AFP PHOTO / LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI

‘Terminator’ Rajapaksa, brother of Sri Lanka’s China-friendly strongman, wins election

Sri Lanka's president-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa waves at supporters as he leaves the election commission office in Colombo. Photo: AFP

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party presidential candidate Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (R) leaves after a campaign rally in Homagama on November 13, 2019, ahead of the November 16 presidential election. - Police stepped up security across Sri Lanka on November 13 over fears of violence on the final day of campaigning for the fiercely contested presidential election, officials said. (Photo by Lakruwan WANNIARACHCHI / AFP)

Sajith Premadasa, Sri Lanka's presidential candidate of the ruling United National Party (UNP) led New Democratic Front alliance gestures as he arrives to cast his vote during the presidential election in Weerawila, Sri Lanka November 16, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) personnel stand guard as election officials carry ballot boxes to be transferred to a main counting centre after the presidential election voting centres closed, in Colombo on November 16, 2019. - Sri Lankans voted on November 16 for a new president in what could mark a comeback for the Rajapaksa clan, lauded by supporters for crushing the Tamil Tigers but condemned by critics for war crimes, corruption and cosying up to China. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI / AFP)

SLPP party presidential candidate Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (second from left) and his brother, former Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa (second from right) wave at supporters during a campaign rally in Homagama, Sri Lanka, on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

News

Asia

South Asia

World

Europe


Police say Francis fabricated evidence when claiming she had been kidnapped and threatened to disclose embassy-related information
Swiss foreign ministry called alleged abduction a ‘serious and unacceptable attack’, but local authorities say there is no evidence to support her account



Police say Gania Banister Francis fabricated evidence when claiming she had been kidnapped and threatened to disclose embassy-related information.


Diplomacy

Crime

Sri Lanka arrests Swiss embassy worker Gania Banister Francis, saying she faked abduction

Police say Francis fabricated evidence when claiming she had been kidnapped and threatened to disclose embassy-related information Swiss foreign ministry called alleged abduction a ‘serious and unacceptable attack’, but local authorities say there is no evidence to support her account

Police say Francis fabricated evidence when claiming she had been kidnapped and threatened to disclose embassy-related information

Swiss foreign ministry called alleged abduction a ‘serious and unacceptable attack’, but local authorities say there is no evidence to support her account