A British DJ has been flogged naked in Singapore for drugs offences despite calls for leniency from Home Secretary Priti Patel and ex-foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Yuen Ye Ming, a London-born, Singapore-based drum and bass DJ was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and 24 strokes of the cane on two sets of charges of trafficking, possession, and consumption.
On Wednesday, August 19, he was strapped to a large wooden trestle before being caned 24 times in the city-state’s Changi Prison
The brutal punishment was carried out a week after Yuen lost his final appeal against the sentence.
Last night the Foreign Office condemned the decision to lash his bare buttocks with a 4ft rattan cane.
Yuen’s sister Elysia Yuen, 32, said: ‘I am amazed that Ming, who’d been so scared, had the physical and mental capacity to get through 24 strokes in one go. [We were] told Ming was very strong during the caning and afterwards too.
‘Ming knows what he did was wrong and deserved to be punished. We know it’s a different country with different laws and you should respect those laws, but isn’t a 20-year prison sentence punishment enough?’
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In a statement, the British High Commission in Singapore said: ‘The UK strongly opposes corporal punishment in all circumstances and condemns its use in this case.’
Yuen was first arrested on Aug 5, 2016, at a River Valley condominium and found to be carrying drugs. Investigations later revealed that he was selling drugs to fund his lavish lifestyle and repay his gambling debts.
At the time of his arrest, he was originally facing the death penalty, but the capital charge was dropped because the net weight of cannabis he was carrying was below the death penalty limit of 500 grams (17.64 ounces) under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
On Jan 17, 2018, he pleaded guilty to trafficking, possession, and consumption charges, and the case was adjourned for sentencing.
While out on bail, Yuen was arrested on Feb 20, 2018, and charged with a second set of trafficking, possession, and consumption offences. He pleaded guilty to four of the 12 charges on July 18, 2018.
On Aug 1, 2018, he was sentenced to a total of 20 years’ imprisonment and the maximum 24 strokes of the cane by a district judge.
Residents of Zabarmari in Jere Local Government Area of Borno State have claimed that the killing of rice farmers in the community would have been avoided if the Nigerian military had taken action after being informed of the impending attack.
According to Daily Trust, one of the surviving villagers, who gave his name as Abubakar Salihu, said they foresaw danger after they arrested one of the Boko Haram terrorists and handed him to the security operatives.
He said: “We informed military beforehand that our members sighted Boko Haram in large numbers but nothing was done about it.”
“It was a sad day for us in Zabarmari; it could have been averted but the military failed to act on the information we gave them,” he added.
Another rice farmer, Mohammed Alhaji, told the publication that the victims were busy harvesting rice when the insurgents summoned and assembled them.
“It was a deliberate act to ensure that we do not harvest our farm produce. We need the federal government to assist us and secure our lives,” he said.
The Zabarmari attack occurred on Saturday, November 28, as Boko Haram terrorists rounded up farmers on rice fields and slit their throats or beheaded them.
A total of 43 bodies were recovered in one location after the attack. Bodies recovered from other locations have raised the death toll to 110.
The military has not yet responded to the villagers’ claims. However, Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, has blamed the farmers’ deaths on their failure to get military clearance before working on the field.
“The truth has to be said. Was there any military clearance from the military who are in total control of the area? Did anybody ask to resume activity?” Shehu said while speaking to BBC ‘Newsday’.
A Nigerian man was arrested for allegedly throwing his 4-year-old step-grandson out of a window from the 3rd floor of an apartment in Danau Kota, Setapak in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, November 29.
Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department head SAC Nik Ros Azhan Nik Ab Hamid, who confirmed the development on Monday, said the 42-year-old suspect was detained at his house shortly after the incident at about 8am on Sunday.
Nik Ros Azhan said the suspect hit his step-grandson, before flinging him out of the window in the main room.
He said the suspect’s 49-year-old wife who saw the incident, then shouted for help and rushed to get help from the neighbours and security guards to save herself and her other children.
The suspect tried to escape by jumping out through the window and was injured. He was detained by the public and security guards at the apartment,” he said.
Nik Ros Azhan said the suspect suffered injuries to his hands and some parts of the body and was taken to Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) for further treatment.
A man identified as Emmanuel Akomafuwe, appeared before the Lagos state Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Saturday November 28 where he recounted how he was allegedly shot at and his girlfriend simply identified as Adaugo, was allegedly killed by men of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) around 7 pm on April 13, 2019.
Akomafuwe, who was the first petitioner in today’s hearing, said he was driving with his girlfriend when men of the disbanded police unit stopped him. He told the panel that when he sought to know why they were stopped, an argument ensued and he was shot in the head by a police officer, he later came to know as Inspector Dan Ojo. He said the inspector also shot his girlfriend, Adaugo in the stomach and leg.
According to Akomafuwe, after the shooting, the police officers who were six in number, took to their heels and left them at the scene to die. He said he survived the incident but his girlfriend died after she was rushed to the hospital.
“The officers involved are living their lives. Some of them were arrested but they have been released. None of them have been punished,” he said.
The news of the incident was published in the newspapers and after this, the commissioner of police promised to pay my hospital bills but this did not happen and the police never returned to visit.
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I did scans on my skull and brain at Reddington, and also checked in Dubai. My sanity hasn’t been the same since the incident and I still can’t sleep without pills.” he said
Akomafuwe alleged that one Inspector Dan Ojo was the one who fired the gun that injured him and also killed his girlfriend and that he wants the officer to be prosecuted.
The Police counsel however asked for more time to enable them to review the petition. According to the counsel, the police just became aware of the case and many officers are said to be involved, so there’s a need for time to track them.
The panel adjourned the petition to Dec 11 for the cross-examination of the petitioner.