4 more ex-inmates seek claim for extra strokes... (!)
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... kind of reminds me of NKF...
... justice?
4 more ex-inmates seek claim for extra strokes
Fri, Jan 25, 2008
The Straits Times
THE case of the prisoner who received three more strokes than he should has prompted four other ex-inmates to pursue similar claims.
They have approached lawyer Joseph Chen to take up their case against the Government and seek compensation amounting to several million dollars.
Mr Chen is acting for Mr Dickson Tan, who was caned eight times, three more than what his sentence for loan-sharking called for.
Unlike Mr Tan's case, which happened last year, the punishments meted out to all four men happened more than 20 years ago.
Mr Chia Teck Kiam and Mr Kwek Hak Seng approached Mr Chen last month to represent them.
They also referred him to a third man, Mr Lin Cheng Yu, now serving time in a Thai prison for drug offences.
Mr Lim asked Mr Chen to act for him as well. All three men were members of a gang who were convicted of robbery in 1987.
Mr Chia claimed he was caned 48 times in all, twice the legal maximum of 24 lashes that can be imposed on an adult in any one trial.
The other two claimed to have been caned 12 times more than the legal limit. Each of them are seeking at least $12 million.
The fourth man, Mr Heng Kee Chiang, was convicted in Feb 1985 of theft with a weapon. He too claimed to have been given 12 strokes in excess of 24. He wants $12 million as well.
Mr Chen and the Attorney-General's Chambers have been exchanging letters on the matter, with the authorities asking for facts and particulars of the cases.
In a letter dated Jan 11, the AGC made it clear that it could not consider claims without being furnished with relevant information.
Lawyers say Mr Chen would be hard pressed to pursue the claims through the courts, given the three-year time bar for personal injury suits.
Mr Chen acknowledged this, but added that the claims touch on fundamental points of the law which should be redressed. He said the three men who robbed a bank had a fourth accomplice, Mr Qwek Kee Chong, who was convicted along with them.
In Nov 1987, he was sentenced to 12 strokes of the cane on each of four charges, totalling 48 lashes in all.
In 1991, he sued the Government and an out of court settlement was reached. Contacted on Friday, his then lawyer, Mr Peter Fernando, said he was only briefed by Mr Qwek at that time - and did not know of the other three.
Mr Chen, a lawyer who re-started practice last year after a gap of six years, said his clients were not literate enough to keep pace of news in the media - until the Dickson Tan case came up.
Mr Tan is taking his case to the court after talks on compensation broke down. -
I thought the time bar was greater then 3 years.
Wasn't it 12? -
The irony - these guys got punished for robbing. Now they want to rob the gahment hahahahahaha
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Well...I think they won't get jackshit from the incident. This is SG, govt. won't be sued or liable to be sued. Case Close.
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MM Lee would probably say, "never mind the extra rotans so long as we have economic progress"!
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I think gahmen might try to tax the extra cannings - gahmen 'service' tax
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Originally posted by pearlie27:
MM Lee would probably say, “never mind the extra rotans so long as we have economic progress”!
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how to prove they got extra lashes... interesting case...