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Young suspects under 16 to be accompanied by adults during police interviews: MHA

Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam. File photo/AFP
Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam. File photo/AFP

In the wake of the Benjamin Lim case, suspects below 16 years of age who are under criminal investigation will be accompanied by an adult during police interviews, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The Appropriate Adult Scheme for Young Suspects (AAYS), which kicks off in phases from April this year, was announced by MHA on Friday (6 Jan).

According to media reports, independent, trained volunteers will be recruited as Appropriate Adults (AAs). They will look out for signs of distress, and also aid communication and provide emotional support.

During the interviews, they must remain neutral and not advocate for the suspect, nor provide legal advice or disrupt the course of justice in any way.

The AAYS expands on the existing Appropriate Adult Scheme for suspects with mental disabilities. An inter-agency committee led by Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), including representatives from the Law Society of Singapore and the Association of Criminal Lawyers of Singapore, will introduce the scheme.

The announcement was made at a press conference where Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam elaborated on the outcome of an inter-agency review of the handling of young suspects under criminal investigation. The probe concluded that existing processes are generally sound.

“If you ask me whether this will prevent suicides, I’m not so sure I can answer that. But it’s a good thing to do – to give comfort to a young person when being questioned by police. Having someone there will be helpful,” said the minister.

“But to ask if it can prevent suicide, I wouldn’t know. In fact, if you look at the factors in the Benjamin Lim case, the coroner went out of the way to point out that the police acted sensitively. So it’s really down to the individual.”

The review came after 14-year-old Benjamin Lim’s suicide last January, after he had been accused of molest and interviewed by police.

An open letter by Benjamin’s father that denounced the treatment of Benjamin by police and his school went viral last February, sparking a public outcry over police procedures for minors.

During the Coroner’s Inquiry, Coroner Marvin Bay suggested that a school counsellor should have accompanied Benjamin to the police station to keep an eye on his emotional state. Bay added that a counsellor could also have provided real-time updates to the child’s parents on his whereabouts.

Lengthy parliamentary statements on the matter were also made by Shanmugam and Acting Minister for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng.