Events of the hit-and-run accident involving the Romanian charge-d'affaires Dr. Silviu Ionescu have now taken a dramatic turn with the latest Romanian Government's intractable stand on the whole affair. My earlier hopeful concept in my posting of 5-1-10 of a sagacious Romanian Government taking a humanitarian stand in this affair is now shown to be misplaced.
In a stunning twist, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has now declared that Dr. Ionescu has been recalled to Romania and will not return to Singapore. This honourable gentleman disappeared suddenly three days after the hit-and-run accident and turned up in Romania. It has all the drama of a science fiction that it suddenly occurred to the Romanian MFA to declare Dr. Ionescu's recall to Romania, more than two weeks after his return to his home country. In fact, he had stated that that he would be returning to Singapore later this month. That this is clearly a ploy of the Romanian government not to allow Dr. Ionescu to assist in the police investigations which would in all likelihood turn out to be detrimental to him. The Romanian MFA is talking tongue-in-cheek if it professes to ensure that justice is done in this case. Even the condolences the Romanian Embassy gives to Ms. Yenny Young, wife of the deceased victim Tong Kok Wai, call for scrutiny considering that the condolences were not accompanied with an offer of compensation.
Like a comic opera, the Romanian MFA now says that it is conducting its own investigations into the hit-and-run accident and will forward results of its investigations to the country's Public Prosecutor. It is incredible how a reputable country can indulge in such childish pranks. How does it propose to investigate when the accident occurred in Singapore and all the relevant witnesses are here. Is the Romanian government trying to hoodwink the world it can genuinely investigate the accident which in all honesty it can only do by remote method.
The Singapore police have an unenviable reputation of being competent in their criminal investigations. They have carried out comprehensive investigations into this hit-and-run accident and have almost completed them except for the questioning of Dr. Ionescu which is crucial to the whole case. Dr. Ionescu has to account for his implication in the whole case and this now seems impossible with the latest intractable stand of the Romanian MFA in not allowing Dr. Ionescu to return to Singapore. And any lifting of the immunity of Dr. Ionescu will be out of the question.
Whther the Romanian Government by its intractable attitude is showing an ugly aspect of its feature may be too early to say. There is a remote possibility that it may relent, but how remote is that possibility is a million-dollar question.
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3 comments:
Why do you say Romania is a reputable country? I don't think it is.
The ugly face of diplomatic immunity as per how countries and diplomats evoke that privilege. The Singapore MFA should have summoned the Romanian Ambassador or Chargé d'Affaires to lodge an official complain as per normal diplomatic protocol...
The question here should - what political/economical or other clout does Singapore have over Romania to force a serving of due justice? Singapore has not even assigned a Non-Resident Ambassador to Romania. Ties are at best mildly on the economic front. Thus, what incentive has Romania to actually dish out justice to one of their civil servants that has returned to home soil and is furthermore out of the physical jurisdiction of Singapore? Even if the Romanian investigation does result in a trial on Romanian soil and possibly a punishment of sorts, such as imprisonment/ fines, I seriously doubt if there will be a full term served, other than a token gesture. I beg to differ that Romania is a "reputable" country - even within the EU's diverse nations, not every country is "reputable" or has "reputable" ways of adhering to laws nor are many above corruption.
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