CNB has concluded their investigations over the alleged mistreatment of Justin Lee, who was charged with drug trafficking and thereafter died three months later from falling from a height.
The investigations were launched after the mother of Justin Lee, Ms Cecelia Ow, wrote a letter to Minister for Law and Home Affairs, K Shanmugam via her Instagram page.
In her post, she described the whole process from Justin being arrested to being charged, as well as his battle with depression.
Here is the statement from CNB
The following statements are extracted from CNB’s media release
No physical force nor abrasive language were used
7. When he was arrested on 3 February 2021, Justin was compliant and did not put up any struggle. The officers held on to him while he was handcuffed, and escorted to various locations in the course of investigations. This is a standard operating procedure in order to prevent escape or self-harm. There was no unreasonable use of force on him.
8. Following his arrest, nine CNB officers were deployed for a follow-up anti-drug operation on the same day at Justin’s place of residence located in the vicinity of Hougang Street 22. The number of officers deployed takes into account various factors. There is a need for operational flexibility in the event that there were more suspects and arrests to be made, or if any follow-up operations needed to be immediately conducted. Six of the nine officers entered the unit – upon being granted permission by Ms Cecilia Ow who was present. Out of the six officers, one senior officer leading the team and one female officer engaged Ms Cecilia Ow, while the remaining four escorted Justin into his bedroom. Two officers remained next to Justin, while the other two conducted a search of the room. The search took place from about 9.02pm to about 9.20pm. Justin was escorted to the CNB Enforcement Office at Bedok Police Divisional Headquarters following the search.
9. Arrested persons under investigations are not allowed to speak to their next-of-kin (NOK) on the details of the case, but are allowed to converse on general matters. In this case, Justin spoke with Ms Cecilia Ow after the search. Further, as he could not locate his eczema medication, Ms Cecilia Ow was also present when he was looking for his eczema medication in his room with the help of CNB officers.
10. Justin was subsequently transferred to the Central Police Divisional Headquarters, and was referred to a lock-up medical doctor for examination on 4 February 2021. The subsequent medical report issued noted that Justin had a slight abrasion over his left foot and a past history of eczema. The medical report concluded that Justin was well and that “the physical examination was unremarkable”. When Justin was released from the lock-up, he signed to acknowledge that he had no complaints. Justin was not mistreated in any way.
No mistreatment during time in custody
21. Internal investigations showed no mistreatment during the time that Justin was in the lock-up.CCTV footage showed that that he was issued with a blanket. He was given his meals, including drinks, during his custody in the lock-up in February and June 2021. During the admission process, he was also informed of his rights to request for these items if he wanted to. CCTV footage also showed that on 4 February 2021, he was seen doing some stretching and was in a planking position for about 1 minute and 20 seconds while he was in the lock-up. He was not stopped by officers manning the lockup since he was not causing any disturbance. He was also observed to have walked around the cell and chatted with other persons-in-custody at different periods. CCTV footage also showed that on 23 June 2021, there were no instances of him trying to do push-ups, nor were there any restrictions imposed on him from moving about in the cell. This is contrary to allegations that he was not allowed to do push-ups to keep himself warm.
22. Based on interviews with officers involved in the arrest and those who had contact with him during custody in February and June 2021, Justin was not denied water during his time in custody.In fact, all drug suspects are given ample access to water in order to be able to provide their urine specimen for drug tests to be conducted. This is contrary to the allegation that he was denied water.
Belongings typically returned only at the end of court process
23. Belongings seized for the purpose of investigations are typically returned only at the end of the court process as they might be required as evidence for the offences.
Engagement with Ms Cecilia Ow
24. Following Ms Cecilia Ow’s letter dated 1 October 2021 to Minister K Shanmugam, the Minister contacted her personally on the same day to assure her that a thorough review into Justin’s arrest and investigations would be conducted. CNB has been engaging Ms Cecilia Ow since 20 September 2021. The senior officer-in-charge of the investigation team had returned her call on the same day. The Deputy Director of CNB had also contacted her on 21 September 2021. CNB assured her that there would be full internal investigations. On 30 September and 8 October 2021, a CNB senior official had also met Ms Cecilia Ow at her residence and at the Ang Mo Kio Police Divisional Headquarters respectively. During these meetings, Ms Cecilia Ow was advised about the investigations. Justin’s properties were returned to her. She was offered psychological support on 21 September 2021 (para 26 below). During the meeting on 8 October 2021, she was provided with a timeframe of about 2 weeks for CNB to complete internal investigations, and was informed that CNB would share the findings with her once investigations are completed.
25. The findings of CNB’s internal investigations were shared with her on 22 October 2021.
Psychological support offered
26. CNB had arranged for psychological support to be provided to Ms Cecilia Ow during this difficult period which she consented to on 21 September 2021, and a CNB psychologist spoke to her on 22 September 2021 for an hour to provide support and share coping strategies (Ms Cecilia Ow had said in an online post of 18 October that she did not accept CNB’s offer to provide psychological support to her). On 30 September 2021, when the CNB senior official met Ms Cecilia Ow at her residence, the psychologist was also present to check on her. However, a family member conveyed later on the same day on her behalf that she did not wish to take up further psychological support from CNB.
Summary of findings from CNB’s internal investigation
27. Based on the investigation findings, Justin was treated professionally and fairly. He was coherent and articulate in his responses throughout the video-recorded interviews. Justin was subjected to medical examinations on 4 February and 23 June 2021 at the lock-up and on both occasions, the medical doctors did not detect any issues of concern. CNB’s internal investigations also showed that there was no undue delay in the investigation and prosecutorial processes.
28. CNB understands that this is a difficult time for Ms Cecilia Ow and will continue to render assistance to her.
29. CNB is committed to keeping the streets of Singapore drug-free, and conducts rigorous enforcement to deal with the trafficking of drugs. CNB has to adopt a proactive approach to disrupt such activities before they take root. Drug trafficking and drug abuse are serious threats to our society. If left unchecked, more lives would be harmed and families affected.
Source: CNB
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