Earlier this year former SMRT bus drivers, He Jun Ling and Liu Xiang Ying, told me in separate interviews that they were intimidated and assaulted while in police custody. Today, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a statement dismissing those allegations as “baseless”.
Several journalists have contacted me for a response. Here is what I have to say:
1. For the sake of transparency, MHA should release He and Liu’s retractions in full and explain the circumstances under which they were obtained.
2. Were He and Liu told to seek legal advice before signing their retractions? It is understood that their lawyers were not present when police visited them in prison.
3. It is unclear whether He actually withdrew his allegations. To avoid confusion, MHA should clarify the following statements, which it made in its press release: “He’s statements were contradictory. He retracted his allegations but yet maintained that the allegations were true.”
4. Why were He and Liu allowed to go home, rather than face charges for making “baseless allegations”? Perhaps the MHA can clarify.
Separately, some friends have alerted me to a CNA report stating that the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) is considering taking action against me for releasing the videos in which the allegations were made. If they do so, I have no doubt all the issues raised above will be fully and openly addressed and that He and Liu will be brought back to Singapore to be witnesses. In the meantime, I have written to the AGC to seek clarification on the report.
