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SINGAPORE – Six servicemen from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) who had been indicted in a military court for the 2018 death of full-time national serviceman Dave Lee have been convicted, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday (24 May September).
The six servicemen, two regular and four ready-to-operate national servicemen (NSmen), who had been charged for the first time in February, were fined between $ 1,800 and $ 4,500.
Three of them were also demoted from the rank of Third Sergeant (NS) out.
Corporal 1st Class Dave Lee, 19 years old at the time and a guard with the Singapore 1st Guards Battalion, died on April 30, 2018, about two weeks after being admitted to Changi General Hospital from a blow from hot.
The case had sparked a discussion about the safety of training and lapses in the SAF after Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen detailed in Parliament in August 2018 the preliminary findings that led to the incident.
The military court proceeding came after Captain Tan Baoshu, the supervising officer on the 8 km fast march where the incident occurred, was discharged which did not amount to an acquittal in January this year, after he was diagnosed. stage 4 cancer.
The Attorney General’s Office had determined that after the conclusion of the police investigations, there were sufficient grounds to prosecute Tan under criminal law, Mindef said.
On Thursday, the ministry said that 25-year-old First Sergeant Chia Zhi Xuan was convicted of one count of disobedience to general orders under Section 21 of the SAF Act and was fined $ 2,500.
The regular military man was the leading officer of a training race held the day before the fast march CFC Lee participated in and had made unauthorized deviations from the race lesson plan.
Another regular, 26-year-old Second Sergeant Koh Ren Zhong, who was the security officer for the fast march, was convicted of one count of negligent compliance with a legal duty under Section 17 (2) of the SAF Act and received a fine of $ 1,800.
He had originally faced one charge of committing a life-threatening negligent act under Section 41 (b) of the SAF Act.
Three NSmen section commanders who applied unauthorized punishments the day before the fast march were fined $ 2,500 and demoted from third sergeant to corporal.
They are Corporal (NS) Chng Pheng Heng, 22; Corporal (NS) Jonas Ang Kai Jie, 24; and Corporal (NS) Yep Ren Jie, 22.
Each of them was found guilty of one count of disobedience to general orders under section 21 of the SAF Act and one count of abuse of authority under section 29 of the SAF Act.
Initially, each had faced three counts: two counts of disobeying general orders and one count of abuse of authority.
Corporal (NS) Tan Jin Yang, 24, also a member of NS and a fast-walking physician, was convicted of two counts of negligent, life-threatening acts under Section 41 (b) of the SAF Law.
He was fined $ 4,500 for both charges.
The police had referred the six soldiers to Mindef to investigate possible infractions of military law. The military men were indicted in a military court after the SAF’s Special Investigation Section concluded its investigations.
Tan Baoshu, 33, died in February after being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. He had been charged with causing death by performing a reckless act, which included failing to evacuate the victim in a timely manner, and charged with not allowing the treatment that CFC Lee needed.
Dr. Ng said in August 2018 that a preliminary assessment found that the likely reasons CFC Lee succumbed to heatstroke were improper management of victims at the scene and a delayed evacuation to the medical center.
The minister had also said that CFC Lee and his platoon mates had been punished for about 30 minutes the night before the fast march because two soldiers had used their mobile phones after the lights went out.
The punishment for the perceived lack of teamwork involved the entire platoon. The soldiers were forced to do physical exercises like leopard crawling, push-ups and sit-ups.
That same day, CFC Lee also did an interval training run at a faster pace than required, with a shorter rest time between laps. This was a violation of training safety regulations.
Dr. Ng then said that the reason given for these deviations was that the commanders wanted to improve fitness and foster greater cohesion while keeping the platoon intact.
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