Parliament
Claims of preferential treatment in murder case baseless: Faishal
Everyone treated fairly by the law, he says after allegations in Orchard Towers incident
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Four suspects in the Orchard Towers case being taken to court in July last year. The police are investigating two women for contempt of court over social media posts they made alleging preferential treatment based on race.
ST FILE PHOTO
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Recent allegations of suspects in an Orchard Towers murder case getting preferential treatment because of their race are "totally baseless and highly irresponsible", said Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim.
He pointed out in Parliament yesterday that everyone in Singapore is treated fairly and equally by the law. His remarks came two days after police said they will investigate two women, aged 28 and 36, for contempt of court.
They had put up social media posts alleging preferential treatment based on the race of suspects involved in the death of Mr Satheesh Noel Gobidass, 31, on July 2 last year.
He died after being embroiled in a brawl at Orchard Towers.
Seven people were involved in the incident, but after investigations, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) found that six of them were not involved in causing the victim's death, leading to the charges against them being reduced.
One of the six, Mr Chan Jia Xing, was given a 12-month conditional warning after his charge was reduced to consorting with a person carrying an offensive weapon in a public place.
The AGC said the crime Mr Chan was charged with took into account his involvement, how he tried to stop the attack and his cooperation with police investigations.
The seventh person, Tan Sen Yang, is the only one now facing a murder charge.
Setting out the process for handling capital offences such as murder and kidnapping, Associate Professor Faishal told the House that where there are multiple suspects allegedly involved in the same capital case, the same holding charge may be made against all of them initially in court.
The accused persons will be held in remand while further investigations are conducted, and law enforcement agencies will make recommendations to the AGC.
Prosecutors will then review the evidence and circumstances of the case, as well as consider the specific role of each suspect before deciding on an appropriate course of action.
"(This can be) whether to proceed with the capital charge, lesser charge or charges, or to withdraw the charge," said Prof Faishal in response to Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (Chua Chu Kang GRC).
He told the House that the eventual position against each accused person may thus differ, as it will be based on the evidence available and his role in the case.
He also cited previous examples of such a reduction in charges involving multiple accused persons, including a Downtown East murder in 2010 and a Pandan Loop murder in 2014.
In the 2010 case, the 12 suspects were initially charged with murder. Some had armed themselves to attack the victim, 20-year-old student Darren Ng.
For those who had known there would be a fight but were unaware of others who were armed, the prosecution amended the charges to rioting, after considering the evidence and their roles in the incident.
Those who were armed and actively attacked the victim were charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Each group received sentences that were in accordance with the severity of their involvement in the crime.
No one gets any special treatment in Singapore's law system, Prof Faishal reiterated.
"I assure the House that our criminal justice system does not give any preferential treatment, based on race, religion, socio-economic status or educational achievements, and so on," he added.
