Six SAF servicemen charged in military court over NSF's death

Six Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) servicemen were charged in military court yesterday over the death of full-time national serviceman (NSF) Dave Lee in 2018, said the Ministry of Defence (Mindef).

In response to media queries, Mindef said the police had referred the six servicemen to the ministry for investigation into potential breaches of military law surrounding the events in relation to Corporal First Class (CFC) Lee's death.

They were charged after the SAF's Special Investigation Branch had completed its investigations.

First Sergeant Chia Zhi Xuan, 25, faced one charge of disobedience of general orders under Section 21 of the SAF Act.

The regular serviceman was the conducting officer for a training run held a day before the fast march that CFC Lee participated in.

CFC Lee, 19, suffered heatstroke after completing the fast march at Bedok Camp on April 18, 2018.

Chia had made unauthorised deviations to the lesson plan for the training run, said Mindef.

Another regular, Second Sergeant Koh Ren Zhong, 26, who was the safety officer for the fast march, faced one charge of committing a negligent act endangering life under Section 41(b) of the SAF Act.

Three NSmen (operationally ready national servicemen) section commanders who meted out unauthorised punishment the day before the fast march each faced three charges - two charges of disobeying of general orders, and one charge of abuse of authority.

They are Third Sergeant (NS) Chng Pheng Heng, 22; Third Sergeant (NS) Jonas Ang Kai Jie, 24; and Third Sergeant (NS) Yep Ren Jie, 22.

The medic for the fast march, also an NSman, Corporal (NS) Tan Jin Yang, 24, faced two charges of committing negligent acts endangering life under Section 41(b) of the SAF Act.

CFC Lee, a guardsman from the 1st Battalion Singapore Guards, died on April 30, about two weeks after he was admitted to Changi General Hospital.

Yesterday's proceedings came after the captain who was the march's supervising officer, Tan Baoshu, who was charged in the State Courts in October 2018, was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal last month.

Tan, 33, died last week after he was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. He had been charged with causing the death by performing a rash act, including failing to evacuate the victim in a timely manner, and accused of disallowing the treatment that CFC Lee needed.

When Tan was charged in the State Courts, Mindef had said that it would defer its internal proceedings against the six servicemen until after the conclusion of the criminal proceedings against him so as to prevent any prejudice arising from parallel proceedings.

Giving preliminary findings into CFC Lee's death, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said in August 2018 that CFC Lee and his platoon mates had been punished for about 30 minutes on the night before the fast march because two soldiers had used their mobile phones after lights out, despite repeated warnings not to do so.

The punishment for perceived lack of teamwork involved the entire platoon of soldiers. They were made to do physical exercises such as leopard crawls, push-ups and crunches.

Earlier that day, CFC Lee also did an interval training run at a faster pace than he was required to, with a shorter rest time between laps. This was a breach of training safety regulations.

Dr Ng said then that the reason given for these deviations was that the commanders wanted to enhance fitness and foster greater cohesion by keeping the platoon intact.

The preliminary assessment provided by the Committee of Inquiry into CFC Lee's death, Dr Ng added then, was that the likely reasons for him succumbing to heatstroke were inadequate on-site casualty management and delayed evacuation to the medical centre.

The SAF Act provides for punishment such as fines, detention and a reduction of rank.