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Dr Silviu Ionescu: I will not return to Singapore (ever again)
January 8, 2010 by admin
Written by Our Correspondent
Dr Silviu Ionescu, the Romanian diplomat implicated in a double hit-and-run accident at Bukit Panjang on 15 December 2009 which had already claimed the life of an innocent young man has made an amazing U-turn and told Romanian journalists that he will not be returning to Singapore after all.
Three days after the accident, Dr Silviu flew back to Romania seeking medical treatment for his diabetes. He had initially told the media that he will return to Singapore at the end of January to assist the Singapore police in its investigations.
He also repeatedly denied that he was involved in the accident. Speaking to Romanian online news daily hotnews.ro, he said:
“The press is free to report on anything it wants. I do not have any comment and it is not important anyway. All that matters is to establish the truth. The fact remains that the embassy car was stolen and I was not in it at the time of the accident.”
On the decision of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to request the Romanian Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the accident in Singapore, Dr Silviu said it is a normal procedure in such cases.
“We are all ready to support the investigations carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office,” he added.
Dr Silviu has since been recalled from his diplomatic position in Singapore by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to aid in the investigations. He now says he would “assist” in the accident investigations from Romania.
It is not know how the Romanian authorities are going to “investigate” the case when all the evidence and witnesses remain in Singapore.
The Singapore police is still “investigating” the matter while there are no official statements from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs though Foreign Minister George Yeo did comment briefly that “what happened was very bad”.
Ms Yenny Young, the widow of Mr Tong Kok Wai, who was killed in the accident had expressed her disappointment that Dr Silviu Ionescu has been recalled back to Romania.
In an email reply to us, Ms Young said that a staff from the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called her yesterday afternoon to express his condolences.
He told her that the accident is a “big” case in Romania right now and that Romania’s Prosecutor Office will conduct proper investigations to solve it.
However, contrary to earlier reports by Romanian online newspaper click.ro, nobody from the Romanian embassy in Singapore has contacted Ms Young or her family yet.
Despite all the evidence pointing towards Dr Silviu Ionescu as the key suspect in the case, he was allowed by the Singapore police to leave the country three days after the accident. Neither did the Ministry of Foreign Affairs applied for a waiver of his diplomatic immunity.
It appears that the Singapore authorities are contented to let their Romanian counterparts deal with their own citizen, but according to lawyer Shashi Nathan, Romanian law may not have a provision for the prosecution of traffic offences committed by a Romanian citizen abroad.
It has been almost a month after the accident and the Singapore police, as usual, is still “investigating” the matter.
Where's e justice??
Source: Temasek Review.
January 8, 2010 by admin
Written by Our Correspondent
Dr Silviu Ionescu, the Romanian diplomat implicated in a double hit-and-run accident at Bukit Panjang on 15 December 2009 which had already claimed the life of an innocent young man has made an amazing U-turn and told Romanian journalists that he will not be returning to Singapore after all.
Three days after the accident, Dr Silviu flew back to Romania seeking medical treatment for his diabetes. He had initially told the media that he will return to Singapore at the end of January to assist the Singapore police in its investigations.
He also repeatedly denied that he was involved in the accident. Speaking to Romanian online news daily hotnews.ro, he said:
“The press is free to report on anything it wants. I do not have any comment and it is not important anyway. All that matters is to establish the truth. The fact remains that the embassy car was stolen and I was not in it at the time of the accident.”
On the decision of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to request the Romanian Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the accident in Singapore, Dr Silviu said it is a normal procedure in such cases.
“We are all ready to support the investigations carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office,” he added.
Dr Silviu has since been recalled from his diplomatic position in Singapore by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to aid in the investigations. He now says he would “assist” in the accident investigations from Romania.
It is not know how the Romanian authorities are going to “investigate” the case when all the evidence and witnesses remain in Singapore.
The Singapore police is still “investigating” the matter while there are no official statements from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs though Foreign Minister George Yeo did comment briefly that “what happened was very bad”.
Ms Yenny Young, the widow of Mr Tong Kok Wai, who was killed in the accident had expressed her disappointment that Dr Silviu Ionescu has been recalled back to Romania.
In an email reply to us, Ms Young said that a staff from the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called her yesterday afternoon to express his condolences.
He told her that the accident is a “big” case in Romania right now and that Romania’s Prosecutor Office will conduct proper investigations to solve it.
However, contrary to earlier reports by Romanian online newspaper click.ro, nobody from the Romanian embassy in Singapore has contacted Ms Young or her family yet.
Despite all the evidence pointing towards Dr Silviu Ionescu as the key suspect in the case, he was allowed by the Singapore police to leave the country three days after the accident. Neither did the Ministry of Foreign Affairs applied for a waiver of his diplomatic immunity.
It appears that the Singapore authorities are contented to let their Romanian counterparts deal with their own citizen, but according to lawyer Shashi Nathan, Romanian law may not have a provision for the prosecution of traffic offences committed by a Romanian citizen abroad.
It has been almost a month after the accident and the Singapore police, as usual, is still “investigating” the matter.
Where's e justice??
Source: Temasek Review.
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