Originally posted by ShutterBug:
This matter only goes to show that if there's anything the gov can
do to get away with any mistakes on their part, THEY WILL..
In relation to this case, another convicted man was given upto 48
strokes (way over the legal numbers of strokes of 24) at one go, is
also taking legal action against the government.
We shall see, just how "transparent" and "corrupt-free" or "World
Class" they are, in owning up to such LIABILITIES...
They must remember well, that the world is watching.... a world
that thinks Singapore, is clean, transparent, corruption free, and
a World Class Judicial System...
PAP, please walk your talks...
======================================================
[b]Prison authorities withheld letter from man
given extra strokes
Man's lawyer says he is trying to obtain the letter from prison
officials.
By Irene Ngoo
Jul 4, 2007
AsiaOne
The prisoner who was wrongly caned by an extra three strokes had
written to his family informing them of the mistake but the letter
was withheld by the prison authorities, his lawyer alleged
today.
"I was shocked when the family told me this. It appears that the
authorities wanted to cover this up totally. I am trying to obtain
a copy of this letter," said Mr Joseph Chen, who is representing
the family of Dickson Tan Yong Wen, 20, who was given eight strokes
of the cane instead of the five he was convicted for abetting an
illegal moneylender to harass a debtor.
Mr Chen said this latest revelation provided further grounds for
the family to seek punitive damages and to pursue criminal charges
against those who made the mistake.
He believed the prison authorities have a record of Tan's letter
which never reached his family.
The caning was carried out on March 29 and the authorities said
prisons officers observed all procedures relating to the
administration of the caning, including verifying with Tan that the
number of strokes of caning was correct.
The government has since said it regretted the error which was made
by a court clerk who had added three more strokes to the punishment
when he was preparing the paperwork for Tan's commitment to prison.
The clerk has since resigned.
Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar, who is also the Law Minister,
said yesterday that the government takes the caning error seriously
and that the courts and other authorities have put in checks and
balances to make sure it does not happen again.
Prof Jayakumar said that when the caning mistake was discovered,
officials from the Attorney-General's Chambers went to apologise to
Tan and his family.
Tan's mother, Madam Ho Gee Lin, 52, a housewife, has insisted that
her son had alerted two prison officers of the error prior to the
caning and said Tan was prepared to undergo a lie detector
test.
Mr Chen said that the family is seeking compensation for the
mistake and a mediation hearing has been scheduled for July
13.
Tan's family had initially asked for $150,000 but raised it to
$300,000 when advised by the lawyer that there are "aggravating
factors" to support their claims.
Mr Chen said his client is willing to settle for a "reasonable"
compensation which, he said, "should not be under $300k and
unreasonable".
If an acceptable compensation is not reached, Tan's family will
take the case to court to sue the government for causing "grevious
bodily hurt" to Tan, and for " failure to carry out or fulfill
official duty", which are both criminal charges, said the
lawyer.
When it comes to that course of action, they will be asking for $3
million, and donate $2.7 million to charity. The government has
rejected their demand.
In an interview with The New Paper on Sunday, Madam Ho said: "I
want to sue not just because of the money, but because I want
justice for my son.
She claims that her son, who is on home detention until the end of
August, is suffering from stress and trauma.
"He's still so young. I don't know how long he'll take to recover,"
she told TNP on Sunday.
[/b]
Suggest that Tan request that the same 3 strokes be returned to
Jayakumar, after all the error was committed by him. Seriously,
between the choice of getting $3 million and giving back the same 3
strokes back to Jayakumar, I'd rather choose the latter.
