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SMRT probe: Police ask film-maker for laptop, phone
By Tham Yuen-c
AN INVESTIGATION into claims by two former SMRT bus drivers of police brutality stirred up controversy yesterday when a film-maker was asked to surrender her laptop, desktop computer and mobile phone to the police.
Ms Lynn Lee said yesterday in a Facebook post that four police officers went to her house in the morning to seize her belongings.
She shot videos of He Jun Ling and Liu Xiangying complaining they had been slapped, punched and threatened while they were held for questioning last November over an illegal strike.
In her Facebook post, Ms Lee said the officers could not explain why they needed the items for their investigations. She then called lawyer M. Ravi for help.
Mr Ravi told The Straits Times that the police should not have attempted to seize Ms Lee's items because she was not being investigated by the police. Neither were the two former bus drivers.
The matter was resolved after Mr Ravi called the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), from which the police had obtained the letter of authorisation for the seizure. One is required before they can seize items needed to investigate a non-arrestable offence.
The AGC, in a statement, said chief prosecutor Aedit Abdullah agreed after a short discussion with Mr Ravi that Ms Lee could take her laptop and mobile phone to the police station for the checks to be done in her presence.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs said it had opened a probe into the bus drivers' allegations even though no police report has been made because they were "serious".
The investigation was led by the Internal Affairs Office, an independent unit within the Singapore Police Force that investigates disciplinary offences or crimes committed by officers during the course of their work.
That day, Ms Lee was asked to hand over to the police a hard drive in which her interviews with the drivers were saved.
In another Facebook post on Wednesday, she said she went to the police headquarters for an interview. She added that she was "thrilled" that the police were investigating the matter.
Efforts to contact Ms Lee yesterday via her Facebook account and company were not successful.
Said Mr Ravi: "They are not investigating my client; they are in fact investigating the police - therefore, it was overzealous on their part to seize her things."
He, 32, and Liu, 33, are among four Chinese nationals charged with instigating a strike last November in which 171 bus drivers stayed away from work. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for today to set their trial dates.
[email protected]
By Tham Yuen-c
AN INVESTIGATION into claims by two former SMRT bus drivers of police brutality stirred up controversy yesterday when a film-maker was asked to surrender her laptop, desktop computer and mobile phone to the police.
Ms Lynn Lee said yesterday in a Facebook post that four police officers went to her house in the morning to seize her belongings.
She shot videos of He Jun Ling and Liu Xiangying complaining they had been slapped, punched and threatened while they were held for questioning last November over an illegal strike.
In her Facebook post, Ms Lee said the officers could not explain why they needed the items for their investigations. She then called lawyer M. Ravi for help.
Mr Ravi told The Straits Times that the police should not have attempted to seize Ms Lee's items because she was not being investigated by the police. Neither were the two former bus drivers.
The matter was resolved after Mr Ravi called the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), from which the police had obtained the letter of authorisation for the seizure. One is required before they can seize items needed to investigate a non-arrestable offence.
The AGC, in a statement, said chief prosecutor Aedit Abdullah agreed after a short discussion with Mr Ravi that Ms Lee could take her laptop and mobile phone to the police station for the checks to be done in her presence.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs said it had opened a probe into the bus drivers' allegations even though no police report has been made because they were "serious".
The investigation was led by the Internal Affairs Office, an independent unit within the Singapore Police Force that investigates disciplinary offences or crimes committed by officers during the course of their work.
That day, Ms Lee was asked to hand over to the police a hard drive in which her interviews with the drivers were saved.
In another Facebook post on Wednesday, she said she went to the police headquarters for an interview. She added that she was "thrilled" that the police were investigating the matter.
Efforts to contact Ms Lee yesterday via her Facebook account and company were not successful.
Said Mr Ravi: "They are not investigating my client; they are in fact investigating the police - therefore, it was overzealous on their part to seize her things."
He, 32, and Liu, 33, are among four Chinese nationals charged with instigating a strike last November in which 171 bus drivers stayed away from work. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for today to set their trial dates.
[email protected]
