Anonymous_X: Physical & sexual assaults from 3 prisoners against a prisoner

Oh yes, it's been three years since I first noticed with a healthy dose of wonder when Justice Tay Yong Kwang closed his judgement with a poem. Yes, I'm referring to this post, "Hang ‘Im High, But Spare Us The Poem!"; and today I've just read about how Justice Tay Yong Kwang will handle a trial of three prisoners facing charges in the High Court on Tuesday for physically and sexually assaulting a fellow inmate in Changi Prison last year.

No, I doubt we shall witness another display of poetic skill by Justice Tay.

Three prisoners faced charges in the High Court on Tuesday for physically and sexually assaulting a fellow inmate in Changi Prison last year.

The crimes allegedly took place in April and May 2008.

The trio, aged 20 to 21, indicated that they would admit to the physical assault charges but disputed all the sexual offences.

All three are accused of making the 22-year-old victim perform oral sex on them.

One of them, Mohammad Zameen Abdul Manoff, is also accused of sodomising the victim.

All three are also alleged to have forced the victim to swallow human faeces.

The charges were read out to Mohammad Zameen, Iryan Abdul Karim and Muhammad Hamdan, but no plea was taken.

The trial judge, Justice Tay Yong Kwang, explained to the trio that they will plead guilty before another judge to those charges that they have admitted.

After they are sentenced on those charges, the case will go back to Justice Tay for the trial on the disputed charges to be conducted.

The trio face more than 40 charges in all and were not represented in court by a lawyer.

From Channel NewsAsia, "Prison inmates face physical, sexual assault charges".

Update on 07/07: 2 inmates defending themselves, grill the alleged abused victim?! I'm impressed...

TWO prisoners, defending themselves against allegations of torturing their former cellmate and forcing him to perform sexual acts, took turns to grill their 22-year-old victim from the dock on Tuesday.

The first, Iryan Abdul Karim, 21, holding a bundle of documents in his hands, continued his systematic questioning, which began on Monday afternoon, before challenging the victim's version of events.

The second, Muhammad Hamdan Abdul Rahman, 20, launched his cross-examination with a speech accusing the victim of telling lies to seek revenge.

At one point, Hamdan was told by High Court judge Tay Yong Kwang that it was pointless to argue and he should put his case to the victim instead.

The two, together with Mohammed Zameen Abdul Manoff, 21, face multiple charges of physically and sexually assaulting the victim in their Changi Prison cell between April 27 and May 4 last year.

The victim, who cannot be named under a court order, was hospitalised for two months.

In general, the trio have admitted beating up their former cellmate. But they dispute parts of his account and maintain that he was a willing party in the sexual acts.

'I'm not claiming innocence, neither am I guilty of all the charges that you are accusing me of,' said Hamdan on Tuesday as he accused the victim of exaggerating and fabricating statements.

But the victim did not waver from his account.

Zameen is expected to cross-examine the victim on Wednesday.

From Straits Times, "2 inmates grill abused victim".

Update on 24/07: The verdict is out. The three accused were found guilty.

Three inmates at Changi Prison were found guilty on Thursday of what prosecutors described as one of the worst cases of physical abuse in years.

Iryan Abdul Karim, 21, Muhammad Hamdan Abdul Rahman, 20, and Mohammed Zameen Abdul Manoff, 22, repeatedly beat a former cellmate, and forced him to commit oral sex on them, eat human faeces and be sodomised by one, between April 24 and May 7 last year.

The trio, who defended themselves during the 12-day trial, did not deny beating the 22-year-old, but they disputed details such as the dates of the abuse and they insisted the oral sex was consensual.

In closing, Justice Tay Yong Kwang said: 'Even accepting that the events may not have occurred in the same sequence as alleged, it's clear that you all are guilty as charged.'

He convicted all three of the physical and sexual assault offences after making minor amendments to some charges. They will be sentenced on Monday.

Following the guilty verdict, Deputy Public Prosecutor S. Sellakumaran pressed for a deterrent sentence so as to send out a clear message that there is no place for bullies in Singapore's prisons.

He pointed out that the victim, who had to be hospitalised for more than two months, nearly died as a result of the premeditated attacks and had been assaulted so frequently that the trio could not recall exactly how many times they had done so.

During the trial, the three maintained that the oral sex had been consensual as the victim had offered oral sex, without them asking for it, to stop the repeated beatings. In his closing arguments on Thursday, Hamdan said: 'I don't know about law, but I believe that when a sex act is committed by two consenting adults, no laws have been broken.'

This defence, however, was rejected by Justice Tay, who said that forced consent, in law, is not considered consent. The judge told them: 'I understand the points you are making, that he made the offer, but in the circumstances of the case, the consent you are talking about is not recognised by the law.'

The reasons cited by the trio for their sadistic acts were petty and senseless, and were mere excuses for beating him up, argued the DPP. He said none of them had shown any real remorse, but had blamed the victim instead, even calling him 'stupid' while on the stand.

From Straits Times, "Trio guilty of abuse".

Update on 28/07: The punishment is out! 16-19 years jail & caning. Justice is served.

Three prisoners who tortured their cellmate for eight days by beating him and making him submit to sexual acts and eat faeces were on Monday each jailed between 16 and 19 years and ordered to be caned.

The 'crude and cruel' atrocities they committed in the Changi Prison cell speak for themselves, High Court Judge Tay Yong Kwang said when he sentenced the trio on Monday. 'Their actions were inhumane and repulsive,' he said.

Between April 27 and May 4 last year, Iryan Abdul Karim, 21, Muhammad Hamdan Abdul Rahman, 20, and Mohammed Zameen Abdul Manoff, 22, repeatedly punched, kicked and stepped on their cellmate.

To stop the beatings, the 22-year-old victim offered to perform oral sex on them, and did so a few times. Zameen sodomised him once. The trio also made him eat human faeces.

The victim, who cannot be named, suffered multiple rib fractures and was hospitalised for two months. His attackers conducted their own defence and admitted assaulting him, but insisted that the oral sex was consensual.

On Monday, Justice Tay noted that the three had claimed trial to fight the charges not because they wanted to make the victim recount his traumatic ordeal, but because they wanted to dispute points of his allegations. The questions they posed the victim were fair and relevant to what they perceived to be their defence, he said.

The judge noted that they admitted beating up the victim, although they said they were angry with his incessant lies and bragging. They also admitted making the victim eat faeces, but disputed his account of when it took place and the events that led to it.

As for the oral sex charges, Justice Tay noted that the dispute over this arose from the three men being young and untrained in law; they held a 'simplistic but mistaken' understanding of the legal concept of consent.

The only real dispute was over one of the three oral sex charges faced by Iryan - of which he has been acquitted - and the sodomy charge against Zameen - of which he was convicted.

Noting their 'sad criminal records', Justice Tay said the three were intelligent young men whose lives could have turned out a lot differently. He said they should use their time in jail to do some serious soul-searching and to learn to curb their impulses before something worse happens.

From Straits Times, "Judge slams trio".