2. Prosecution's difficult position -
On one hand, the Prosecution wants Ng Boon Gay convicted for bribery. But to do that, it needs its star witness, Cecilia Sue, to testify. Problem is that Cecilia herself would be implicated as a complicit partner in the bribery case, if she testifies.
On the other hand, if they were to proceed with Cecilia's statement that she was forced, then technically, it would be rape. This of course is out of CPIB's area. So the issue of the contracts Ng gave will be left hanging and unmentioned, if the prosecution proceeds with rape!
Yet another difficult position would be that if the prosecution proceeds it as a bribery case and not rape, their star witness, Cecilia Sue, would not be given automatic gag on her identity. Their star witness may crumble and the bribery case may come to naught.
So what does the prosecution do? It gets their star witness to claim that she was forced into it. But the problem now would be how is the prosecution going to link that forced sex act as "favour" for the contracts, if she was "forced"? It no longer is a "favour", but an exploitation. Now how is that going to fit into the "bribery" case, because for a bribe to work, both parties must be consensual to the act!
True enough, the prosecution's case couldn't hold and it collapses - because of Cecilia Sue's inconsistent words.
Ng Boon Gay's "not guilty" verdict: Judge says Cecilia Sue's testimony not believable
The courtroom broke into applause on Thursday afternoon after District Judge Siva Shanmugam acquitted former Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay of corruption.
Ng said in Mandarin after the verdict: "The law is fair, the law is just."
The judge said that Ng had successfully rebutted the "presumption of corruption".
He added that the testimony of Ms Cecilia Sue - the prosecution's star witness - could not be believed as there were too many inconsistencies.
Ng's testimony, however, was consistent except for his claim that he had no knowledge of Ms Sue's dealings with the CNB.
Ng was accused of four counts of corruption for obtaining sexual favours from Ms Sue.
District Judge Siva Shanmugam said that Ng Boon Gay had successfully rebutted the "presumption of corruption". He added that the testimony of Ms Cecilia Sue - the prosecution's star witness - could not be believed as there were too many inconsistencies. --MY PAPER PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN
This case will definitely have precedence on the other upcoming cases involving sex for favours.
Moral of the story is that prosecution should prepare its case more thoroughly before going to the courts, and NEVER trust the star witness, especially if she's more interested in covering herself up.
Cecilia Sue may have saboed the prosecution. But methinks the prosecution deserves it too. For being too presumptuous that court will give their star witness the gag order.
3 comments:
What now Mr Ng? Few things you can do:
1 Make up with your wife. She stick by you. I hope you are grateful.
2 Sue the Singapore Government for wrongful dismissal.
3 In GE2016, campaign for any other political party & tell the inside story of the office politics in the Government, especially MHA.
A grave injustice has been done to an innocent man by the CPIB. Heads should roll.
I've written a bit on this in my blog.
I agree with the gist of your article. This was inept prosecution to begin with and poor investigation by the CPIB.
Surely the evidence collected should have warranted a decision by the prosecution to drop the charges of corruption when little evidence existed to show the guilt of Ng. Instead they should have either prosecuted him on a minor charge like breaching the Police Force Act or subjected him to disciplinary charges instead.
But no, I think the prosecution is also guilty of 'trial by media'. Just because he was a high flier meant they had to show they were fair, unbiased and unafraid' to prosecute him, or may be some smart aleck prosecutor taught he could make a name for himself for trying and getting a conviction in such a high profile case.
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