MFA Spokesman's Comments in Response to Media Queries about Allegations of a Political Conspiracy made by Dr Silviu Ionescu

In response to media queries about the allegations of a political conspiracy made by Dr Silviu Ionescu, the MFA Spokesman said:

"As our Special Envoy Ambassador Anil Kumar Nayar said when approached by the Romanian media, the trial is not about the Singapore system or its Government. The trial is about what happened on 15 December 2009 which resulted in death and serious injuries, and the evidence found has pointed to Ionescu. His responsibility will have to be addressed through the Romanian legal process for justice to be served, and this is where the focus should be."

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
28 JULY 2010
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TRANSCRIPT OF SPECIAL ENVOY'S DOORSTOP INTERVIEW WITH ROMANIAN MEDIA OUTSIDE THE COURTROOM, 27 JULY 2010

SE: Something happened on the 15th of December and after that, there have been findings in our legal system which point the evidence to Mr Ionescu, but he has left, he is now in Romania here and this case is undergoing here under Romanian law as per the Romanian system, so I do not want to go into details, but...

Question: You are pleased with the course of the...

SE: Yes, we are pleased that the case has come to court, we are pleased that the process is going on, this is the commitment that has been given to us by the Romanian Foreign Minister, the Romanian Government, that they also, like us, want to see that justice is done. That is our main priority. So I want to make it very clear here, that what is on trial here is not our legal system or Singapore as a whole. If you want to find out, I mean, people know about Singapore, our legal system, of where it stands internationally -- Singapore as a place where people live and work -- foreigners included -- safely. The Singapore government makes that very important so that we are one of the top and most important global cities in the world because that is also important for us. People are protected, people are taken care of, but all of that is not what is in question here. What is in question here is a very specific case, and we are very glad that the case has now come into an open court. It has just started, so let's see where it goes. But beyond that, at this stage, I am not able to go into the details of the case per se because I will need to talk to people and also because the case is ongoing...

Question: I think that is a very simple statement and is not complicated, that you will need time to discuss it with your prosecution...

SE: I think the fact that he has made very specific allegations, as you said about Singapore, and my response to that is, again, what is on trial here is again not...

Question: He said that your TV or television broadcaster...video tape of him getting out of the car with a liquor bottle in his hand and hitting the man...

SE: If you are asking for my response to that, then I'm afraid that at this stage we will not be going into the details of the case and it's not my position and I cannot prejudge what is going on in your legal system here to start making comments and so on. I don't think that would be very fair and that would not be appropriate as well. So for the time being, I just want to make it very clear that what is on trial here is not Singapore per se, but the facts of the case which points to Dr Ionescu which he has to answer for, and what I think what Romania and Singapore both want, is to see that justice is done. We have to be very very clear on that. Ok? Thank you very much.

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TRANSCRIPT OF SPECIAL ENVOY'S REMARKS TO THE ROMANIAN MEDIA AFTER THE IONESCU COURT SESSION, 27 JULY 2010

SE: Good afternoon everyone, thanks very much for coming down to meet me again. Some of you are familiar faces from my last visit, when I met some members of the Romanian media. I have to confess that I am not here to make a long speech or do a long statement or to take a lot of questions about the details of the case that we heard this morning. Because as the case has just started, at this stage it would not be appropriate to go into the details and start commenting on all these things. I think there are a few things that I want to say, and then after that I will take a few questions because my colleague and I are also in a bit of a hurry, I will take a few questions and leave it at that for now. I think the key point that I want to emphasise, is that if you take my last visit here, some months ago, and look at where we are today, I think significant progress has been made because now we have reached the stage where the investigations have been completed on the Romanian side, and the case has come to court. From Singapore's standpoint, this is a very significant development. On my last visit, I said that I was cautiously optimistic about how the case was moving forward. And I have to say again that now I remain cautiously optimistic but a little bit more optimistic than I was during the last visit at least in the sense that there has been movement from the last time. The movement is that the investigations have been completed, we are now in court, the case is being heard, so I think it is something that we really appreciate.

Also in my last visit, I mentioned to you that we had received the commitment from the Romanian Government that they share with the Singapore Government, they share with the people of Singapore, the emphasis on the need for justice to be done. I think the Romanian Government, as far as we know, in terms of our interactions with them, have indeed been trying their best to move this case forward. We are very appreciative of that, and so at this stage, I think that is the good news, that we are moving forward, towards ensuring that justice is done on a matter that is of great attention, great importance to the people of Singapore. We will see where this goes, and today, I would say, what we saw in court is the start of that process. That movement towards making sure that justice is indeed served. At this point, this is what I have, in terms of my general comments. I will be happy to take a couple of questions. As I said, I am very sorry, I have to apologise in advance, I will not be able to comment on the details of it because then if I comment on the details then I am actually conducting my own legal process outside the Romanian courts and I don't want to do that. I have to be respectful of the Romanian legal process. The process has started so I cannot go into a lot of details and give you clarifications or rebuttals to what Mr Ionescu said today. But I will try my best to answer any other general questions that you might have about the case. Ok, thank you.

Question: Mr Ambassador, you have made some statements that the European Union - regarding this process (sic). You accused, on several times, that the Romanians try to not make forward this case (sic), what is your opinion now?

SE: I think I have to immediately clarify, that I don't recall - because the only other time I spoke to the media was during my last visit - and I don't recall making any accusations or allegations about Romania. I think the point that I wanted to make on my last visit and which I will emphasise today as well, is that my presence here is not to issue any threats, or make any negative remarks about Romania or about Singapore - Romania bilateral relations or about Romania's position as an EU member state. Absolutely not, that's not my intention. Neither is it my intention to criticise nor make disparaging remarks about the Romanian judiciary. I think the Romanian legal system, judiciary and so on, is the concern - and rightly so - for the people of Romania. And you will be the people who will judge your own system. It is not for me, as an outsider, to come here and tell you what I think about that. We are also fully aware that legal systems all over the world are different. Your system is structured and run differently from how our system is structured and run. But it's important for us, in a case like this, to understand what is going on in your system because obviously in this case it has relevance for us. In my last visit as well, I think I mentioned the EU aspect of it and the point that I was making is that the EU positions itself globally as a union of values. It talks about values, good governance, rule of law, transparency, things like that. And this is how all member states in the EU therefore will have to be measured by their own yardstick. I think that is the point I was trying to make and it therefore follows that in a case like this, the rest of the world --- countries in our region, media in our part of the world --- when they look at it, they will be using a yardstick like that to measure the outcome in a case like this. I think that was the point that I was trying to make. That is the reality. It is not a threat, it is not a criticism, so I hope that clarifies the context in which you raised your question.

Question: Another question please. If Silviu Ionescu were judged in Singapore, you will hang him?

SE: I think this is a mischaracterisation that has been presented, I think, probably by Mr Ionescu himself in some of the remarks he made to the media some time ago. For the offences that he has been seen to be probably involved in --- in other words there are charges against him in the Singapore legal process --- now for those offences, if found guilty, I can assure you that capital punishment is not the punishment for those offences. In other words, if he is found guilty of all those charges --- if he comes to our courts, he takes part in our legal process and at the end of it if he is found guilty --- he will not face the death penalty in the Singapore system. So I think I want to make that very, very clear.

Question: Are you sure he is guilty?

SE: Well, that is the kind of hypothetical question that I don't think I'm in the position to answer. I don't think anybody is in the position to answer until the legal process runs it course, whether here in Romania or whether in Singapore. But I think the point that has to be addressed is that there are some very serious charges against him, in terms of our own investigations that we have found that point to Mr Ionescu. And all that investigation, the facts, the data, the details that our investigators have found in this case --- because of the seriousness of the case --- we have shared [the case] with the Romanian authorities. And after the Romanian authorities have gone through those facts, after they have sieved through everything, they have examined it, and looked at it from the standpoint of Romanian law, it is the Romanian authorities who have then decided that there is a basis to take this case to court and let the legal process take its course. And I think that is where things should be heading. Thank you. Any other questions?

[Murmuring]

Since there are no questions, and maybe that is also good, it shows that I am very clear. Or, you have nothing much to ask on this. But I think I want to address one point which some of your colleagues in the Romanian media mentioned to me immediately after the proceedings today.

I was asked about specific aspects of the case and so on which I said I cannot touch. But there was one point that they asked. They said, well, Ionescu said a lot of things and one aspect of it seemed to talk about Singapore --- what we were doing in our system, in terms of as he put it, framing him and so on and so forth. I think it's very, very important for all of us to bear in mind that this trial is not about the Singapore legal system, this trial is not about the Singapore Government. The trial is about events which took place on the 15th of December in which one person was killed and other people were hurt. And our investigations revealed that it is Dr Ionescu who was probably involved in all of these things. So he has to answer to that under the law --- he has to answer to that under the law, whether in Singapore or whether in Romania --- and justice has to be served. That is the bottom-line of it all, it has nothing to do with the politics or whatever else. It is law taking its course and justice being done, which I think is what everybody wants, whether in Romania or Singapore. So I think it is very very important to keep the focus on that and whatever information, details, [and] facts that our investigators have found had been shared with the Romanian Prosecutor's Office, with the Romanian authorities in good faith. There is good cooperation, in terms of sharing the information, so that the Romanian authorities can make their own investigations and judge the case under their own law. And it is on that basis that they have taken the case to your own courts to process it. So I think we have to be very very clear about these matters. In other words, if you make that kind of criticism about Singapore and our system and so on, then by extension you, or he in this case is making the same criticism about his own legal system, which is what has decided to take his case to court. So I think we have to be very very clear about these things and not be distracted by other points that may be put on the table. And I think this will be a process that takes a bit of time. As you know the next hearing is on October 6. Some procedural things will have to be settled by then, so there will be some time taken in between, but I think the important thing is that there must be movement. There must be movement towards ensuring that justice is served.

Question: I understand your point of view. But Mr Ionescu today said that he had faced another similar incident before. It was the same car stolen, and that car had made an accident. It is not the first time that his car was stolen and he was accused about it. That time he had the chance to have been with other Ambassadors at a reception. So in this case he cannot be indicted. A little strange, that there seem to be some similarities in both cases.

SE: But let's just put it this way. There are a lot of details that he put forward. I use details with quotes, because this is what he is saying in his defence -- whether they are true or not is another thing. But to be honest, as I discussed with our own counsel later, in terms of making sure that I understood what happened this morning, there is really nothing very new or different from what he had already said before in his media interviews earlier in this case. And I think on all of these things the facts are very very clear. And the facts, I think, as the Prosecutor goes through the trial process as we go forward, I think the facts will make themselves very very clear. The bottom line is, Dr. Ionescu, during his time in Singapore, was not charged with any offence or whatever it is that he wanted to say. I know he made a lot of allegations and so on but he has said these things, and he saying these things in themselves doesn't mean that they are true. And I think again, I will bring the focus back to the case itself. What happened, there are facts that will substantiate what really happened and there will be his version which he can defend and promote and that will be the version that our investigators will put forward based on what they have found in terms of their own investigations. So I think it will be useful as the process goes on, to see what are really the facts and then for the Court to decide where/how the case should stand.

Question: Does the Government of Singapore have confidence in Romanian justice?

SE: As I said, my approach so far is to look at things in perspective and I would say that I am cautiously optimistic because this case is moving forward. It is not for me to comment about the justice system here and to say whether I am confident or not. No, I think that is not the issue. The issue here is that all serious countries which have an emphasis on the rule of law, on transparency, on making sure that the laws apply to everyone fairly and correctly, whether it is Singapore [or] whether it is Romania, all countries that have that kind of an approach will want to make sure that in cases like these, justice is served because all attention internationally would be on you. I think that applies not just to Romania in such cases, but to any country, including Singapore, in such a situation. So it is very important, in this case for Romania of course, to make sure that the legal process is going through to its completion, [and] to make sure that justice is done. And for me, up to this point I am very very encouraged. I'm cautiously optimistic, I would say, by what I have seen. And I can also say that the people of Singapore are also following this issue very closely, as is the Government of Singapore, of course, because this is indeed a serious matter for us. And we will be tracking this issue to its completion, under the Romanian legal system.

[Murmuring]

SE: I tried to answer it. Maybe any other last questions if there is one? Okay, if not, thank you very much. See you.

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