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SINGAPORE: A businessman implicated in a corruption case linked to a government project in Indonesia will continue to be remanded in Singapore pending a medical report from the prisons.
Businessman Paulus Tannos is a suspect in a graft case linked to the Indonesian government’s electronic ID card project, which is said to have caused the state about 2.3 trillion rupiah (US$140 million) in losses.
The court heard on Thursday (Mar 13) that Tannos’ lawyer has submitted a bail application along with supporting documents detailing Tannos’ medical condition.
Tannos, who also goes by the name Tjhin Thian Po, has been living in Singapore since 2017. He is a permanent resident here and holds a diplomatic passport from West African country Guinea-Bissau.
He was first remanded without bail after he was arrested by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau on Jan 17, pending the submission of a formal request for his extradition by Indonesia.
Singapore received the formal request on Feb 24, along with the relevant documents, which the authorities are reviewing.
Tannos’ court mention on Thursday comes three days after the Singapore authorities said they were working to expedite Indonesia’s extradition request for Tannos.
Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said during a press conference that the Singapore would do anything it can to expedite the matter, and that how fast the case proceeded depended on the arguments by Tannos and his lawyers, and factors such as available court dates.
Tannos’ case is the first under a new extradition treaty between Singapore and Indonesia, which was signed in January 2022 and came into force in March last year.
HEALTH PROBLEMS
Tannos appeared in court via videolink for his mention wearing a white shirt and looking thin and frail.
State Counsel Sarah Siaw told the court that the state had received the bail application filed by Tannos’ lawyer on Tuesday night, after the deadline had passed.
Ms Siaw told the court that the state had also received an affidavit with medical reports and documents from the defence. She asked to file a reply affidavit by Apr 17.
She said that the defence’s affidavit made factual assertions that the state needed prisons’ input on.
“We checked with the authorities and they told us they need four to five weeks to produce a detailed medical report,” she added.
Tannos’s lawyer said in reply that the filing of the application had been late as his client had been taken to Changi General Hospital after he complained of chest pains.
There was then a blackout of information about his condition for 24 to 48 hours, the lawyer added.
He added that he has applied for his client’s medical reports from the hospital, but objected to the long period needed to prepare the reply affidavit.
“We are asking for bail at first relief, if bail is refused to keep him in the hospital. There is no denial that he had medical issues in all the medical reports that I produced,” the lawyer said. Tannos’ health condition was not specified in court.
Addressing Tannos through an interpreter, the judge said that he was required by law to ask Tannos if he wished to consent to surrender to a foreign state.
Tannos replied in English: “I do not want to go back to Indonesia, your Honour.”
After he was reminded to speak through the interpreter, he said that he was “not willing to return to Indonesia authority”.
His next court hearing has been fixed for Mar 19, with the State Counsel due to update the court about its filing of the reply affidavit then.
Tannos will remain in remand in the meantime.
Mr Shanmugam had said that Tannos can be extradited in six months or less if he does not contest his extradition. But the process could take up to two years should it be contested at every step of the way.
