Garnia Bannister Francis, a local employee of the Swiss Embassy in Colombo who, in November 2019, claimed she had been abducted by government ‘agents’ and molested, was sentenced by the Colombo High Court on Friday to two-years imprisonment suspended for five years.

Colombo High Court Judge Namal Balalle fined Francis Rs 5,000.

The order was given after she pleaded guilty to the charges of making a false accusation that she had been abducted and sexually harassed in 2019 by security forces personnel.

On 16 December 2019, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested Francis and produced her before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court on the directives of the Attorney General, after she was named a suspect in a case for creating disaffection against the government and fabricating false evidence to be used in a future judicial proceeding.She was later released on bail under two personal bonds of 500,000 rupees, each, on 30 December.