Germans may face caning in Singapore if convicted of train graffiti

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Two Germans have been arrested in Malaysia and extradited to Singapore where they are suspected of spray-painting graffiti on a train, an offence that can carry the penalty of a jail term and caning. Police said on Friday that the two men, both aged 21, were arrested late on Thursday. They were about to leave Kuala Lumpur for Australia. The pair are suspected to have sprayed graffiti on a train in central Singapore shortly before leaving the country on Nov. 8. Police say they would be charged on Saturday. Pictures in the media at the time showed a carriage with various painted letters and designs, but it was not exactly clear what they said. Singapore, famous for its cleanliness, cracks down hard on even minor crimes like vandalism and has strict fines for littering. The arrests come four years after Swiss national Oliver Fricker was sentenced to seven months in jail and three strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to cutting through the fence of a train depot and spray-painting graffiti on train carriages. Singapore's vandalism laws became global news in 1994 when American teenager Michael Fay was caned for damaging cars and public property, despite appeals for clemency from the United States government, including then president Bill Clinton. ($1 = S$1.3) (Reporting by Theodora D'Cruz and Rachel Armstrong; Editing by Nick Macfie)