Swiss national Oliver Fricker has been sentenced to five months in jail and three strokes of the cane, after pleading guilty to spray-painting two train carriages and for trespassing into Changi train depot. A third charge for cutting the fence at the depot was stood down.
The 32-year-old could have be jailed up to three years, fined a maximum of $2,000 and received a maximum eight strokes of the cane. For entering a protected place, he could have received a maximum of two years in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
The graffiti was discovered by SMRT staff on 17 May. However, it was only two days later that the alarm was raised by SMRT staff when the train was recalled to the workshop for scheduled maintenance. The public did not know about the incident until weeks later when a video of the graffiti was posted on YouTube.
SMRT, in a statement on 8 June, said it “deeply regret that a serious security lapse had occurred in our depot.” It explained that its staff had “noticed the graffiti on the train but did not sound the alarm as [the graffiti] was done artistically and mistaken for an advertisement.”
Mr Choy Kin Chong, Head, SMRT Security & Emergency Planning said , “SMRT is working closely with the authorities to determine, establish and implement more measures to further strengthen security in our depots, including additional surveillance and intrusion detection systems, to detect and prevent future breaches.”
Fricker’s alleged accomplice, Dane Alexander Lloyd, is believed to have fled to Hong Kong after the incident. Singapore has issued a warrant for his arrest and has sought the help of Interpol.
The case has attracted international media attention, particularly in Switzerland and Britain.
Human rights activists have called the use of caning as inhumane and that caning is considered a form of torture.
In 1994, 18-year-old American teenager Michael Fay was given six strokes of the cane for vandalising cars and stealing road signs. Fay’s six strokes were reduced to four after then-US President Bill Clinton appealed for clemency on his behalf.
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A video of an actual caning has been leaked out of Malaysia. You can view it here (caution: explicit content).
Headline picture courtesy of The Straits Times
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Gosh, I sure hope Dan gets an opportunity to test-drive the punishment on himself, & let us know if he thinks it’s humane or not. Everyone makes mistakes, big or small, throughout their lives. Even in school, home or work. What if the punishment is completely unproportional to the mistake committed? Flogging is barbaric & being flogged for vandalism is completely whack & unneccessary. Same goes the gov who supports it.
Dan ought to get it on his own Butt!
Dan: learn the meaning of words before you use them.
humane: marked by compassion, sympathy, or consideration for humans or animals
Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humane
Caning as practised by the Singapore penal system is inhumane, no two ways about it.
Maybe you’d like to learn the meaning of ‘cruelty’ as well?
Cruel:
1 : disposed to inflict pain or suffering : devoid of humane feelings
2 a : causing or conducive to injury, grief, or pain. b : unrelieved by leniency
Caning is expressly designed to achieve all these.
Unless, of course, you believe that in the 21st century, barbarism and violence are still the best way for a society to deal with its members – then we have nothing to discuss.
We get a lot of comments like above when a white person gets whipped but total silence when lesser humans (in their opinion) gets it silently and taking it like a man. Well like it or not, crime and punishment applies here like in any other sovereign country. If you do not like our way of punishment, do not commit stupid crimes. Pls go home if you do not like our ways.
Dan: it doesn’t matter what colour the person is, caning is barbaric and cruel. I don’t see you defending caning as humane or compassionate. If it’s inhumane, as you seem to be conceding, then it should not be practised.
Yes, crime and punishment do apply in Singapore, as it does anywhere else. But not every country practises this particular form of barbarism on its convicts, nor should they. As Singaporeans, we should sit up and make ourselves heard that we don’t want our government to inflict cruel and unusual punishment in our name, instead of sitting idly by and being apologists for a 13th-century way of thinking.
What has caning got to do with the colour of a person? And, there’s no such thing as a lesser human. Humans are humans. When your bum gets lashed, the flesh tears and blood oozes out, extremely painful and that’s inhumane.
Dan 27 June 2010
There is nothing inhumane abt Sgt Fricker’s (3 stripes) punishment. He knows the law and consequences of breaking it. As a guest of S’pore, pls give some respect or else, pay for yr actions.
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one fine day when you find YOURSELF in trouble with the law/terrorist in a foreign country where georgeyeo do not want to know YOU @all…you seek SOS/assistances..i will command the REDCROSS to transfer your plead to idi amin in uganda…ok for you?
Regardless of what opinion people have about caning, you can be sure graffiti ‘artists’, including Oliver Fricker will think twice about doing something as stupid as defacing public property again in Singapore.
That can only be a good thing.
You guys think that caning is barbaric? How about death penalty? Most “advanced” countries do it. They are working out “humane” ways of administrating death penalty. By the way, if you tell someone you are going to kill them, there is no humane way to administer that. The fears, the depressions when the poor guy sits in prision waiting for his “appeal” is inhumane enough. Do anybody say anything about that? So, a few slashes of cane can prevent the guy from committing other crimes which may result in the death penalty. From this perspective, is caning humane?
In my point, the guy did nothing wrong. that’s about art, man. In other countries it’s quite normal to do so. Anyway his drawing was so nice untill people thought that it was an advertisment. But of course following the singapore law he need to gain suffer after all. But I think the goverment need to do something with those security guard also. This time the wiss guy can enter and drawing for so long and nobody. Next time if they give us a bomb. I don’t think anybody know???