Update:08/22/2016: Even if Thailand does not have an extradition treaty with Singapore, they can under the principle of comity and friendship between nations send Roach to Singapore per Singapore's request. But they have refused.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
David James Roach 27, the Canadian who robbed a Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore on July 7, 2016 will not be extradited to Singapore says Bangkok Immigration chief. Please see state controlled Singapore newspaper Straits Times report here. http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thailand-rejects-request-to-extradite-robbery-suspect
Roach who fled to Bangkok Thailand immediately after the bank robbery in Singapore was arrested by Thai police 3 days later where he is presently in detention pending deportation. I had in my earlier blog post in this blog correctly predicted that Thailand will not send Roach back to Singapore. Singapore is seen by Thailand as well as all the democracies in the world as nothing more than a Fascist state that denies its citizens basic human rights such as freedom of speech or expression and it is well known their courts are Kangaroo courts and have no rule of law. Please see my blog post here http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2016/07/7-reasons-why-thailand-should-not.html
Although the Thai immigration chief has couched his denial in moderate diplomatic language by just saying they could not accede to Singapore's request, it is quite clear why the request has been refused. Thailand simply does not want to be seen internationally to be co-operating with a pariah banana republic such as Singapore which refuses to conform to all norms of a democratic society. They naturally do not want to be associated with a state such as this. Instead they will be sending Roach to his country of nationality, Canada.
On paper they have good grounds to do this. Roach is a Canadian, and therefore Canada is one of the first countries for deportation. Second, they don't have an extradition treaty with Singapore which they do with Canada. And the reason why they don't have the extradition treaty is because Singapore refuses to sign it for their own benefit. There are numerous Thai criminals who have embezzled banks and money launderers who have sought sanctuary in Singapore. Singapore refuses to extradite them to Thailand because they benefit as a money laundering center. It is not surprising therefore why Thailand will not send Roach to Singapore while they refuse to repatriate wanted Thai bank robbers to Thailand.
Another major reason is Singapore's barbaric laws. In Singapore robbers not only are sent to jail, they are also caned, that is, whipped on their backsides with a stick until they bleed. Such punishment is considered unlawful around the world as cruel and barbaric. If Roach is repatriated to Singapore, he will suffer such punishment and Thailand does not want to be seen as a party to such lynching of a defendant. Canada does not beat their prisoners.
Singapore has threatened to pursue his extradition from Canada once he is there. I can assure that that that is a pipe dream. If Thailand's opinion of Singapore is bad, Canada's, a proud and respected democracy's opinion of Singapore is even worse. They will never send Roach to Singapore.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont California USA
Tel: (510) 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
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1 comment:
Another great post. Also, I'd like to add that tonnes of Singaporeans are ready to call for Roach's death while wanting 'stressed' or 'innocent' murderers who are just barely related to Singaporeans to be pardoned or even compensated.
And yet there's talk of being proud to be born in this nation...
-Daniel Kevlar
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