AN AMERICAN businessman is facing the prospect of being caned in
Singapore after overstaying his visa by almost half a year, court
documents and his lawyer said on Thursday.
If convicted for violating Singapore's immigration laws, US
citizen Kamari Kenyada Charlton, 37, could become the first
American in 16 years to be caned in the strict city-state.
Kamari, who was born in the Bahamas, was arrested at Changi
Airport on Sept 1 when he was about to leave the country, his
lawyer M. Ravi said.
A charge sheet issued against him seen by AFP said Kamari had
remained in Singapore for an extra 169 days after his three-month
social visit pass expired on March 15, 2010.
Under Singapore laws, overstaying for more than 90 days is
punishable by a jail term not exceeding six months and a minimum
three strokes of the cane.
Kamari, who runs a construction business in the Bahamas, is
currently on remand in a local prison, Mr Ravi said.
He had entered Singapore on Dec 15 last year to accompany his
wife, who had come to the city-state seeking medical treatment for
her pregnancy.
Mr Ravi appealed for a commutation of the American's potential
sentence to a fine, citing the case of a relative of Kamari's wife
who was fined S$500 for exceeding his visa by 194 days.
But in a written response to Mr Ravi, the Attorney General's
Chambers rejected the appeal 'after having carefully considered
your representations'. -- AFP
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US EMBASSY MONITORING CASE
The case has caught the attention of US officials.
'The US Embassy is closely monitoring the case and embassy
officials have provided consular assistance to this individual,
including six visits by consular officials,' a spokesman for the
mission told AFP.
If caned Kamari would be the first American to undergo the
punishment in Singapore since the widely-publicised case of Michael
Fay, an American teenager who was given four strokes of the cane in
1994 for vandalism. -- AFP
