Media Release: Questions that Wong Kan Seng must
answer
Singapore Democrats
29 Feb 08
The shocking revelation by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for
Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng about the escape of ISA detainee Mr Mas
Selamat Kastari does not pass the smell test. At the minimum, it
raises troubling questions that require urgent answers:
One, were there breaches of physical security? The detainee could
not have walked through walls. The Minister has not told the public
whether Mr Kastari had dug a burrow, punched hole through the wall
or cut the wire fencing surrounding the detention centre. If there
were no such breaches, then did Mr Kastari push his way past the
security personnel guarding the doorways and gates?
The time Mr Kastari took to go to the toilet is at most several
minutes. How does one effect an escape in that short span of time?
This apparently occurred at about 4 pm and just before his family
visit which means that the officers on duty had to be on heightened
alert. The situation becomes even more incredible when we are told
that the detainee walks with a "distinct limp".
Mr Wong Kang Seng expects us to believe that a detainee who could
not walk properly got past able-bodied officers from the confines
of a toilet, in broad daylight and without an escape route?
Two, where are the footages of security cameras? There are cameras
mounted in all prison facilities precisely to prevent such
situations. The Whitley Detention Centre is no exception. If the
Elections Department has a CCTV camera and can produce video
footages, surely Mr Wong can now produce footage of the moments
that led to the detainee's escape.
Cameras would have recorded Mr Kastari's movements as well as
movements of the police officers guarding him. They would also show
Mr Kastari walking, running, jumping, or limping through the
compounds of the Centre if he had escaped. The Government must show
the people such footage.
Three, what are the officers'
accounts? So far we have only heard from the Minister.
This is not sufficient. The ISD officers involved in the matter
must now give their accounts in a public, independent inquiry whose
panel should include the SDP.
In addition, officers handling Mr Kastari must give an account of
the detainee's condition in the months and weeks leading up to his
escape. This is important to establish the detainee's physical
condition at the point of his breakout.
If the Government cannot satisfactorily answer the above questions
and produce the video footage of Mr Kastari's movements just prior
to his escape, then the question of whether an escape had in fact
taken place necessarily arises. The logical follow-up to this
question then is: Is Mr Kastari still alive?
The media and Parliament have
been derelict in their duties in not raising the above questions
and grill Mr Wong on the matter. The kids' gloves that journalists
and MPs have been using to deal with this disturbing issue is
revealing as it is instructive.
At the very least, the debacle
calls into question the competence of the Home Affairs Minister and
his cursory statement given in Parliament is woefully inadequate,
negligent even. The SDP demands that the Minister comes out in the
open immediately and answers our questions.
All this mystery surrounding this incredible gaffe must, however,
not distract us from the fact that Mr Kastari has not been
convicted of a crime with the Government having proven its case in
a court of law. Singaporeans must remember that he ISA remains a
tool of the PAP to serve its own political ends.
If we decry the ISA in detaining Singaporeans like Mr Chia Thye
Poh, Ms Teo Soh Lung, and Mr Francis Seow and depriving these
citizens of their right to defend themselves in an open and fair
trial, then we must also extend that right to Mr Kastari and all
other detainees currently incarcerated at the Whitley detention
centre. Let the charges be made against these suspects, let the
prisoners defend themselves, and let the evidence, if any, convict
these persons.
Chee Soon Juan
Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic Party
