He saves innocent man from jail - for free
By Crystal Chan
May 17, 2010
The man had pleaded guilty even though he was innocent. He had simply not had enough money to get a lawyer. This hard-luck case caught Mr Abraham Vergis' eye.
The Drew & Napier lawyer took up Yunani Abdul Hamid's case even after the 36-year-old had pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and was sentenced to nine years' jail and six strokes of the cane.
On April 22, 2008, Mr Vergis persuaded the High Court to order a re-trial, after which Yunani was acquitted and walked free. This is just one example of Mr Vergis' many pro bono cases.
To get more lawyers and law students to do pro bono work, the Law Society launched a comic book titled Incredible Lawyer on May 7.
