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Complacency, says Singapore

SINGAPORE: “Security and operational lapses” as also “complacency” on the part of officials at a detention centre here had facilitated the escape of terror-suspect Mas Selamat in February, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng.

Making a statement in Parliament on the basis of the findings of an independent Committee of Inquiry, Mr. Wong said Mas Selamat bin Kastari escaped from a toilet, where he had gone under escort, before his scheduled meeting with family members. The committee traced the escape to a “confluence” of factors – a non-grilled ventilation window in the toilet, the failure of the escort-guards to ensure that he remained in their line of sight, and the physical security weakness of the perimeter fencing outside the toilet.

Mr. Wong, noting that the committee found no evidence of collusion between the detenu and any official at the detention centre, emphasised that “complacency ... had crept into the operating culture” at that place. The Minister had earlier apologised for the escape of Mas Selamat.

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