gomez detained, NOT arrested (yet)
For those who, like weili, can't be bothered to subscribe to ST:
Gomez stopped from leaving Singapore, police confirm probe
By T. Rajan
DEFEATED Workers' Party candidate James Gomez was stopped from leaving the country at Changi Airport yesterday and questioned by police for eight hours.
Police confirmed they were investigating Mr Gomez in connection with a complaint they received against him from the Elections Department.
Mr Gomez, who has been at the centre of a controversy with the department over his non-submission of a minority candidate certificate, spoke to reporters at 12.05 this morning at the Police Cantonment Complex where he had been taken.
He said that he was stopped on Sunday afternoon at the airport immigration counter and his passport and boarding pass were taken.
When he asked why, an officer there told him that it concerned an issue of criminal intimidation, but could not elaborate. He was taken to the Cantonment Complex at around 5.05pm to be interviewed for what he was then told was a report made against him by the Elections Department on Saturday.
He could not go into details of the case, nor what he had told the investigators. But he said he would cooperate and had given them a 'full and comprehensive outline of what transpired'.
Mr Gomez was heading back to Sweden to resume work at the Stockholm-based think-tank, Idea International. He said now that his passport has been 'seized and impounded indefinitely' he has asked the police for a letter so he can explain the situation to his employers. He has not been told when he has to report again to the police.
WP chairman Sylvia Lim turned up at the Cantonment Complex at 8.05pm. Emerging three hours later, she said she was called as a witness to give a statement in a case. Investigations were on-going and she did not want to comment further. Nor did she see Mr Gomez while she was there. WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang was aware of the matter, she said. Ms Lim led the WP's team, which included Mr Gomez, which contested and lost in Aljunied GRC.
Mr Gomez became a focal point of the election campaign after claiming he submitted the form to the department. When a security camera recording showed he did not hand in his form, he owned up. He said he was 'distracted' and apologised.
But PAP leaders said the apology was inadequate. Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng issued a statement detailing how Mr Gomez 'stage-managed' the incident to damage the Government and discredit the Elections Department. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew called Mr Gomez a liar and challenged him and the WP leadership to sue him if that was untrue.
posted by zyn ::
12:20 PM ::
4 Comments ::
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