Swiss Executive Fricker Appeals Singapore Caning Sentence for Vandalism
Oliver Fricker, the Swiss executive serving a five-month jail term and waiting to be caned for breaking into a Singapore depot and spray-painting a commuter train, appealed his sentence today, his lawyer Derek Kang said.
Kang, a Singapore-based lawyer with Rodyk & Davidson LLP, didn’t give the basis of the appeal in a phone interview today.
Fricker, a software consultant at Zurich-based financial software maker Comit AG, was sentenced on June 25 in Singapore’s Subordinate Courts to three strokes of the cane and three months in jail for vandalism and two months for trespassing.
Fricker, 32, along with an accomplice, painted SMRT Corp.’s train with the words “McKoy Banos” on May 17. Singapore police have placed a global alert for the arrest of British citizen Lloyd Dane Alexander, 29, who was named as an accomplice.
Singapore’s penalties for vandalism gained international attention in 1994 when U.S. teenager Michael Fay was sentenced to four months in prison, a fine and six strokes of the cane for vandalizing cars and possessing stolen goods. His sentence was reduced to four strokes after a request by then U.S. President Bill Clinton. Since 1999, Singapore has caned 21 foreigners for vandalism offences, according to the city’s Subordinate Courts.
Those convicted for vandalism in Singapore may be jailed for as long as three years or fined as much as S$2,000 ($1,435) and receive up to eight strokes of a cane. Trespassers into a protected area may be fined S$1,000 and jailed for as long as two years.
Fricker had “full consciousness that what he was doing was illegal,” Judge See Kee Oon said when handing down his ruling. Fricker has agreed to pay SMRT estimated costs of S$11,054.
‘Model Expatriate’
The Swiss national had been a “model expatriate worker contributing to Singapore” since his arrival in the city in October 2008, Kang said in his defense on June 25. Fricker, who committed the vandalism for “fun,” not “malice,” also pleaded guilty at the earliest instance, the lawyer said.
SMRT President Saw Phaik Hwa on June 8 apologized for the “serious security lapse” and pledged to step up vigilance.
Graffiti is considered a misdemeanor in countries including the U.S. and the U.K., which has banned the sale of spray-paint cans in some areas and offers rewards for the arrest of vandals.
The case is Public Prosecutor v. Oliver Fricker, Singapore Subordinate Court, case numbers DAC0024677/2010 and MAC002548/2010.
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Tan in Singapore at atan17@bloomberg.net
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