An online petition has been created in reaction to the hit-and-run involving a Romanian diplomat.
Dr Silviu Ionescu, the charge d’affaires at the Romanian Embassy here in Singapore, is believed to be involved in the incident and is reported to be a suspect.
The driver of a car belonging to the Romanian Embassy had hit three pedestrians at two traffic junctions in Bukit Panjang. Three persons were hurt in the hit-and-run which happened on 15 December last year – one of them has since died. Dr Ionescu, who is believed to have been at the scene of the incident, later left Singapore for medical treatment back in his country. The Singapore police is investigating the case.
[Picture right, from Asia One]: Madam Yenni Young, 31, wife of the late Mr Tong Kok Wai, weeps as she is embraced by a visitor at her husband’s funeral wake.
Mr Tong was the victim of the hit-and-run accident involving an Audi from the Romanian Embassy. He was taken off life support ten days after the double hit-and-run accident.
More pictures of the victims here.
Below is the online petition:
To: The Romanian Government and the Romanian Embassy in Singapore
We, Singaporeans, are shocked and saddened by the hit-and-run accident occurred at around 3am (Singapore) on 15 December 2009 in which one person died and two others were injured.
Dr Silviu Ionescu, charge d’affaires of the Romanian embassy in Singapore is a suspect in the said traffic accident. He has gone back to Romania after the accident.
We, the undersigned, hereby request:-
(1) that the Romanian government or the Romanian embassy in Singapore shall immediately made out ex-gratia payments to the families of the victims of the said accident;
(2) that the Romanian government and the Romanian embassy in Singapore shall immediately and unconditionally co-operate with the Singapore authorities to conduct detail investigation of the accident;
(3) If the above-mentioned investigation yields prima-facie evidence that Dr Silviu Ionescu is responsible for the accident, the Romanian government and the Romanian embassy in Singapore shall immediately and unconditionally waive all immunity of the said Dr Silviu Ionescu under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and hand him over to the Singapore authorities.
Sincerely,
—-
Headline picture from Xiaxue’s blog.
—–
Related posts:
- MFA update on accident involving Romanian embassy vehicle
- Diplomat “now a suspect” in hit-and-run incident
- Romanian diplomat not returning to S’pore after all
- To catch a diplomat
- MFA puzzled by Romanian diplomat’s remarks
whatever happenned
there is NOTHIN we can do about it
the united nations called it
DIPLOMNATIC IMMUNITY
same as leekuanyew
they are above the laws…
only would the real REAL western europeans diplomat team stayed behind and face court actions….
Why the taxi driver took such a long time to surface the details as a witness on 31 Dec 2009?
Which is more serious? – Drug runner of 47g of heroin that didn’t cause any actual death or a reckless driver that actually caused 1 death & 2 to be injured?
If the the former is deemed to be deserving of a death penalty, what can be said of the latter?
My condolences to Mr Tong’s family.
I would sign the petition if (1) was conditional on the proven guilt of Dr Ionescu.
I hold the concept of presumption of innocence to be sacrosanct in all criminal cases.
This morning i read the chinese newspaper about the petition. I wonder where to go and sign it?
Now logon to TOC and I read this mail.
Thanks! I just signed the petition.
this is putting the cart before the horse, Dr Silviu Ionescu is still a suspect as of now, not the culprit yet. to have this petition up & running will only be fodder for the fears the ruling elites have about the electorate- that there are people who do not think before they act (“freak”)….
this petition is a call for justice? TOC should have held its horses on this petition.
If the diplomat is the culprit, then he should compensate the 3 victims, esp the dead. And the wife also can start civil action in court to claim compensation e.g, he is 31years and he can work another 30 years, so annual salary times 30 years, the amount she can claim and so on…
From the photo, this diplomat looks like a play boy, chances of him got drunk is high ? Why police took such a long time to investigate ? Is the police incompetent ? Or dare not take action ? Sometimes i really can’t trust the police
Yes innocent till proven guilty..but first the man needs to be brought back to help investigations IF he’s really innocent. It’s all rather convenient that he left the country(to escape persecution?) and is now uncontactable. It the meantime all this hot air is just going to blow ovr unless there are actions taken by the relevant parties and justice may be served.
I totally disagree with : 1) whoinchargeoftanjongpagarGRC on January 3rd, 2010 4.04 pm
Who says there is nothing we can do about it???
Diplomatic immunity does not automatically apply across the board to each and every offences.
It depends on our political leaders’ will to make the culprit pay for his wrongdoings, irregardless of their diplomatic standings.
Wasn’t it not too long ago that the police charge a consul representative from a smaller country for using their office as a gambling den.
Or what if members from the foreign embassy traffic drugs?
Are they going to get away and our leaders just keep quiet.
Aren’t we going to pursue or even asked for exemption from immunity?
How are you going to tell that to the families of the deceased and the injured?
Where is your conscience and your will?
I smell corruption somewhere.
whoever is not taking action to prosecute that idiotic driver, hope you get run down by a car too …. this coming chinese new year … hahaha
The right thing for the Romanian Govt to do is the waive the his diplomatic
immunity and allow him to face trial in a Singapore court.
After all, if he is the alleged driver, he has committed the most cowardly
act by not rendering assistance to his victims but to cut and run.
I don’t see anything wrong with the petition. The diplomat is now the only suspect and he has left the country. A petition like this will only pressurize the authorities to do what they are supposed to do and not cover up the case.
Curious that why the people over here are so proactive trying to get something done.
Contrasted by http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=app_2373072738&gid=77865194499.
Apparently, it isn’t worth a discussion, neither was it important enough to warrant a comment.
What is it to be a person living in a city like Singapore worth? Are there different values predicated upon different individuals? Curious I am, aren’t you?
is such petition a sad reflection of our shortcomings of our ruling elites? most the public raise whip up public sentiments to nudge the relevent authorities to action?
while most are demanding for justice, would too many petitions cause fatigue?
in the end, who is paid to do a job (SPF) must do the job well. like all employees, must the managers or superiors keep a close watch so that work is done?
the ball is in who’s court? the general public or the civil servants in this case? there is social responsibility & there is job obligations to meet, dun blurr the line.
why not a petition to demand more accountability from the civil service so the public will not be blamed for always complaining & complaining (why no action)? :)
correction in my above post:
from:
////is such petition a sad reflection of our shortcomings of our ruling elites? most the public raise whip up public sentiments to nudge the relevent authorities to action?////
to:
is such petition a sad reflection of our shortcomings of our ruling elites? MUST the public raise whip up public sentiments to nudge the relevent authorities to action?
sorry for this extra post.
to be fair to this romanian son of a bitch, wait and see
but TOC, please keep this thread locked because we, the citizens of singapore, are forgetful enough until someone reminds us of it.
http://www.bucharestherald.com/worldnews/43-worldnews/8484-romanian-diplomat-suspected-to-be-driver-of-audi-in-singapore-hit-and-run-accident-
Even the Romanian Newspaper knows that our SPF is not doing their work!
there is nothing S’poreans can do about diplomatic immunity, but things can be done about sloppy police work.
hence, my fellow S’poreans, do not always react in anger. maybe its time to retrench slackers in the civil service?…
prove that the “iron ricebowl” is a myth, or let such incidents re-enforce it.
The petition now has over 1500 signatures and the SDP have also put it up on their site: http://yoursdp.org
I hope the rest of the opposition parties will join in this very basic citizen initiative for action.
What’s most important is that there are 2 witnesses now, and that they are promised protection until, during and after the time to positively ID the driver of the vehicle involved in the accident, which, according to news reports, seems to have been Mr Ionescu himself. That Mr Ionescu left the country during a critical point of investigations raises suspicions to culpability, even if his medical appointment in Romania had been pre-scheduled. Couldn’t he have cancelled his medical appointment in Romania and, if an examination was really necessary, attend any one of the hospitals available in Singapore? They offer top-notch services, and minus airfare (economy), would be even more economical to visit than undergoing medical examinations in Romanian hospitals. Is he really so concerned that medical examinations in Romania be cheaper than medical examinations in Singapore? Or is he attached to his medical examiner or to the hospital he is staying in now or what? I think he only wanted to get away. From the police, and having to withdraw an earlier statement that he wasn’t the driver of the vehicle, and having to admit that he was conveniently suffering from schizophrenia when the vehicle belonging to the Romanian embassy was stolen when it was in his care.
aiyoyo
why like that huh? hit & run.. ??!!
like to see what’s the outcome of the investigations & hope the results out soon
scary – cross roads with green man still need to open eyes BIG BIG
aiyoyo
According to the link posted by #18:
With eye-witnesses identifying the suspect, the police should have solved the case EASILY within a week instead of allowing the prime suspect to get away scot-free.
Perhaps we should also start a petition to demand an investigation into why the Police did such a sloppy job.
#11 may well be right in “smelling corruption somewhere”.
And, oh yes, we need another petition to call for the IMMEDIATE resignation of the ultimate Chief of Police, the $$$$$$$ Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng.
Let’s see how many people have managed to slip out of the country in recent years:
1. Mas Selamat Kasturi
2. Took, the guy who murdered the China child, Huang Nah
3. The guy who mistakenly used his son’s passport
4. Now the Romanian diplomat and hit-and-run suspect
I am sure there have been others as well.
Thanks Michael
18) Michael on January 4th, 2010 2.06 am
http://www.bucharestherald.com/worldnews/43-worldnews/8484-romanian-diplomat-suspected-to-be-driver-of-audi-in-singapore-hit-and-run-accident-
Even the Romanian Newspaper knows that our SPF is not doing their work!
It will take a foreign press to work the SPF up…All the Big shot were probably on holiday leave during the incidence…so no one dare to take action.
Now that the holidays are over,let’s see what is the outcome.
That is the money shot right there. The 2 ladies with him in the night seem like …. erm….. socialites? i mean , for a lack of better word.
a family shattered just like that. Lives destroyed just like that. An innocent man braindead just like that. Just becos someone drive a Audi A6 recklessly.
Where is the Karma? Does it exist?
For 49 years?
Where is the Love?
Where is Gawd?
#18,
maybe can we ask the new police chief for clarification and his comments on bucharestherald.com report?
IF all foreigners or expats just claim their car was stolen when some is knocked dead by his car, can he Also take flight back to wherever they come from, either the Maldives , Bali or Hawaii?
Can SPF clarify ?
[i]the vehicle belonging to the Romanian embassy was stolen when it was in his care.[/i]
yeah right..our intelligence secret service must either be too damn STUPID or our civil defences emergency act(ors) are blind…
a diplomatic vehicle is stolen…
so easy..no actions…
if/when a diplomatic car is stolen..it can easily be laden up with explodesive.. visit any government office from the prime minister to the instana WITHOUT any security check in any account…
~zhee~ takin about
be safe
not sorry
here we go again
foreign office/icac/isa/defence department all eat sleep waste rice seeds…
Right now, we’re judging. and in the court of public opinion, he seems guilty. Thats a little unfair for us to judge, as yet.
Yes, the circumstances are rather suspect. And through diplomatic immunity, by right, the man can get away for his crimes. Similarly, any of our diplomats, if they’ve done something similar in Romania, we can get away with diplomatic immunity.
I think we should see how the investigation ends, and who’s brought to justice, before we make any petitions or the like.
What i find dodgy is that he got away. Whenever there’s a sensitive investigation, the alleged perpetrator gets away. But when it involves an opposition leader, Singapore can hunt him down a worm hole. The priorities are all wrong.
How much business do we really do with Romania – that the Romanian government is not even wanting to help out in investigations?
Now – more importantly – does this signal that we are, after all, a very insignificant dot on the map that other countries dont even respect our laws and lives of our citizens? Thats something for us to think about, the next time we brag how great Singapore is to the world.
what riled me was what he said …along the lines of “i dont have time to worry, maybe another day when it all settles down….” If his story is true, that his car was stolen and it ran down 3 people in a foreign country, you’re being interviewed by the press, and you dont actually give a sh*t, that gives me an indication of the arrogance of this man. there is no emphaty at all…
Innocent until proven guilty? if it was a local driver, u will be called up to ‘assist in the investigation’ so fast your head will spin. you think u will have a chance to go overseas for medical treatment??
do we not have world class medical facilities? aren’t the ailing burmese and philipine, indonesian ex-junta coming here for treatment? it its good enuf for them, surely its good enuf for our Romanian friend.
wake up those of you who are asking for justice..this is SG. u get law and order, not justice.
Im equally surprised that this Romanian prostitute lover can leave the country with a case hanging over a stolen car & a dead person!!!! This Romanian left on the pretext of his medical condition. He’s telling me that our medical facility is of lower class than Bucharest?
It should come as no surprise that the police here are doggone useless…only good for telling off small boys for playing football under the void deck.
They are incompetent, lazy and, worse of all, apathetic—typical civil service mentality (the less work, the better; the only thing they care about is their mee rebus and nasi lemak bungkus from Adam Rd).
As for this alleged murderer— what a smarmy little so and so this guy; cavorting with SPGs and the like. Romania is a third-world country with gypsies and other backward, commie-loving folk…like hell he’s gonna get better medical treatment there.
Let’s bring this scumbag back here to face the full brunt of the law. Time to see what this govt of ours is made.
Else, it’ll face the wrath of public fury at the ballot box.
I agree with mice is nice [#6]
The way the petition is worded shows it is inconsistent, or illogical.
How can we ask the Romanian govt to give ex-gratia payments to the families of the victims when it has not, as yet, been proven that Dr Ionescu was the guilty party, or when it has not been proven that the car involved in the accidents was driven by a member of the embassy staff?
We are jumping the gun here. Point [3] of the petition should come in last, as a consequence of the antecedent in point [2] being affirmned as true.
#34 – corrigendum
The last sentence should read as:
“We are jumping the gun here. Point [1] of the petition should come in last, as a consequence of the antecedent in point [3] and considered effective only when the antecedent is affirmed as true.”
Ans the plot thickens
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_473391.html
Suggested timeline:
*1.30am SI drives from KTV and parks it outside embassy. He goes inside “to file reports due to time differences w Romania”
2.10am SI n unidentified woman spotted arguing in black Audi outside Peace Centre on Selegie Road
2.30am Black Audi drops off unidentified woman at Bukit Timah
3.10am Black Audi hits n runs 3 people at Petir Road
3.30am Taxi picks SI at sungei kadut
*around 3 something SI n his driver notices car is not at embassy phone call was made to police abt stolen car
4.10am Taxi drops him at River Valley condo
*denotes SI statements to press
If the eyewitness reports are true isn’t this damning evidence. For the sake of everyone I hope he keeps his word to return n help w investigations “end of Jan” n help the victims’ families have closure.
Do I see a internal security lapse here?! How can there be a “window of opportnity” for this fat ass to leave Singapore? Assuming if this is a bombing incident, the terrorist would have left Singapore again!
PAP and Wong Kan Seng, please wake up your idea! We pay you to fall asleep?!
Whoever the culprit is, diplomat or not, he/she should be punished to the full extent of the law. No favortism, pls.
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_473505.html
” It has been established that the charge d’affairs of the Romanian Embassy here, Dr Silviu Ionescu. 49, was involved in the hit-and-run accident in Bukit Panjang, which injured three men, one of whom died on Christmas Day without regaining consciousness. “
I find myself unwilling to put my name down onto the petition. While I agree with points 2 and 3, point 1 does not make logical sense to me. Okay, maybe I’m missing out something here… I didn’t follow the news closely. But I feel that unless the Romanian embassy or the diplomat has made things difficult for the families or the investigating authorities, I really don’t see why ex-gratia (i.e. good will) payments ought to be made to the families.
If the Romanian diplomat is shown guilty in court, then payment will be made according to the law. If there has been non-criminal negligence that led to this incident, then ex-gratia payment is a reasonable demand. But at this point when things are still murky?
it is confirmed the hit-and-run driver got heart problem, he has no heart.
Well, as usual……….
Bending their fingers backwards and their backside for Foreigners.
Singaporean…….like the old man say….thats their problem
To those who feel that this call for petition is premature and unjust to the suspect who is yet to be proven gulity, the fact of the matter is – If we do not have a petition now, probably nothing will be done and the matter will be swept under the carpet. You see, with this petition, the Sunday Times had to pick up the story resulting in more people being aware of this case. And because of that, even the Herald in Romania is reporting this case. The build-up is putting pressure on the authorities to seriously investigate into this.
Therefore, as much as I would like to agree with you guys who are against the petition at this juncture, I have to disagree in this case.
Anyone has info on the 2 ladies flanking the diplomat ? They can be models or high class models u know?
personally i do not support any ill conceived petition, because if i sign means i support people who do not pay enough attention to details. for people who think details do not matter, this diplomat is a good example. can he say things vaguely & just leave S’pore, return & say something else like where he was on that nite doesn’t matter?
a petition will result in greater awareness, but to have a sloppy petition may sometimes backfire. how will people respond when things go awry? if SPF investigations standards were sloppy, a petition that demand greater accountability will go a long way to shake up the force.
what lead to this diplomat leave S’pore? shouldn’t problems be traced to its source? like if Dr Silviu Ionescu was detained right from the start, wouldn’t the investigation be completed sooner? shouldn’t the question be “how did he mange to slip out of S’pore? there are enough boo-boos from our immigration department/SPF (Home Team) already.
feel free to share different opinions. thanks.
I think the undersign requests are not really right at this moment. Unless, he had been proven gulity.
At best, the request of this petition should insist that he be brought back for the court case.
Hi Mice and RED-man,
While I do not fully agree with the content of the petition, I signed it for the intent, which is, to jolt attention and force action. If we were to debate on the content, it will waste time and let its course go astray.
WinstonCheng
post #47 on January 5th, 2010 12.59 am
thanks for your sharing your opinion.
i doubt 1 can un-sign it….?
personally, i prefer to think & think before i act. it will not appeal to some, but i feel (my opinion) its better than having to take corrective actions later.
either way, this petition does not address the root of the problem. with that i guess the seed of more petitions is set for “growth”?…. & more time will be needed for more petitions…
lol….
am very sad to hear this news, nobody would want to be in the family shoes,its a serious lapse of security by spf and ica for allowing the diplomet to leave our country before proper invetigation , this case make me feel really unsafe for my future generation to stay on in SINGAPORE
Winston
trust me, the intention is not to challenge a debate. I think mice is nice has the same concern as me. You see, it takes a lot of effort to get so many signatures to join a petition. But it would be a waste, if the Romanian can simple push away this petition by stating what I had mentioned above.
However, a petition to request them to send him back to Singapore is reasonable and they cannot refuse. Then it would put the petition into good use. In the eye of law in any country, no one is gulity until he/she is proven to be gulity. I think this is why people are angry that china put the so called drug smuggler to death and why many disagree with Singapore ruling that when drug more than a 20 cents coin in weight will be put to death too.
In short, we sincerely hope this petition contents can be changed to get it deserved approval.