By Adam Gabbatt from Guardian
Singapore
is seeking to extradite a British man accused of spray-painting a
subway carriage last month.
A court has issued an arrest warrant for Lloyd Dane Alexander
for allegedly breaking into a train depot and vandalising a subway
carriage on 16 May with Oliver Fricker, a Swiss national, the
Singapore police force said today.
Singapore has a reputation for meting out severe punishments for
relatively minor crimes. Vandalism carries a maximum fine of
SG$2,000 (£980) or up to three years in jail, in addition to three
to eight strokes of a wooden cane.
Police said Alexander has fled Singapore and authorities will
seek to extradite him, depending on the extradition treaty
Singapore has with the country where he is eventually located.
Officers did not give details of Alexander’s age, profession or
possible whereabouts.
The Straits Times reported that the Briton had left the country
for Hong Kong before the incident was reported to police on 19
May.
Fricker, 33, was charged with trespassing into a protected place
and two charges of vandalism on Saturday. He is currently on bail,
with a preliminary hearing set for 21 June.
The two men are alleged to have cut through the fence of the
SMRT rail depot before spray-painting graffiti on one side of a
train.
Singapore caned American teenager Michael Fey for vandalism in
1994 – ignoring pleas for leniency by then US president Bill
Clinton – in a case that drew international attention to the
country’s harsh punishments. – guardian.co.uk
