|
|
|
What really happened
in prison
Chee
Soon Juan
18 Dec 06
In response to the Ministry
of Home Affair’s (MHA) statement (ST, 2 Dec 2006), allow me
to state what really took place during my recent imprisonment at
the Queenstown Remand Prison from 23 Nov-16 Dec 2006.
When
I consumed my meals on the first two days of my jail term, I
experienced acute nausea, dizziness and extreme distortion of my
auditory senses. Sounds like the jangling of keys or my
cell-mates urinating in the latrine became unbearably loud.
When I subsequently skipped a couple of meals, these
symptoms did not occur. When I resumed eating, the negative
effects re-appeared. This made me rather suspicious and
nervous.
Food tray marked
My suspicion was
heightened when I noticed that my food tray was marked with the
letter ‘S’. Those of my two other cell-mates were not
so marked. I then compared the contents of my rations with theirs
and found that the servings were similar.
I subsequently
found out from my wife that when she asked a Mr Chandra Kumar,
who would only identify himself as a “prison officer”
from the MHA, he categorically denied that prisoners’ food
trays were marked.
I then decided to stop eating
whereupon the symptoms I described earlier went away. I told the
prison authorities, including the doctor, about the matter and
said that I wanted to see my wife.
After a few days
without my eating, the doctor said that he wanted to run some
tests to check on my health. I consented to giving him urine
samples but indicated that I did not want any invasive procedures
to be conducted, including extracting blood samples.
Given
what I had just experienced, I did not want the prison
authorities inserting anything into me such as pricking my finger
for blood-sugar tests, taking blood samples, or putting me on
intravenous drips.
I repeated that I wanted to see my
wife first (to seek independent opinion) before I gave consent to
such invasive procedures, however minor they were. Given the
circumstances, I had to be extra cautious.
I, however,
continued to give urine specimens and allowed my blood pressure
to be monitored.
The prison authorities remained
intransigent for an entire week until Sunday, 3 Dec when the
doctor decided to admit me to Changi General Hospital (CGH)
because my blood pressure had begun to fall and traces of blood
continued to be present in my urine.
The following
morning on 4 Dec, I again indicated to the doctors at CGH that
given the situation, I wanted to see my wife first before I
agreed to any invasive procedure to be done. But I did not object
to X-rays and CT-scans being conducted on me.
When the
authorities finally allowed my wife and sister, Chee Siok Chin,
to visit me at CGH that morning, I felt more at ease and
subsequently consumed the hospital food and allowed my blood to
be drawn for tests.
I was informed that all the tests and
consultations showed that there was nothing inherently wrong with
me that caused me to refuse to eat the prison food or to
experience the symptoms when I ate it. Which brings me back to
the question: What caused my symptoms when I first ate the prison
food?
Sleep deprivation tactics?
When I was
subsequently discharged and transferred back to prison on
Thursday, 7 Dec, it was already dinner time. When the food trays
were brought in, I was told to choose one out of the three (the
marking was no longer there).
I did not want to eat the
dinner partly because I had an aversion to the food and partly
because I had had a late meal at the hospital just before I was
brought back to prison.
The prison official in charge gave
me five minutes to start eating failing which my family visit,
yard time, and consultations with my lawyer would be canceled.
When I did not comply, I was taken back to my cell.
The
books that I had taken with me to the hospital and brought back
were then taken from me. When I asked for them, I was told that
they were undergoing “censoring”. I told the
officials that they were the same books I had with me since the
first day of my imprisonment and asked why they were being
censored only now. I received no explanation. The books were only
gradually returned to me the following day.
That night the
light in my cell was left on the entire night and morning which
made sleep impossible. This went on for the remaining nine days
of my imprisonment. I told the prison doctor and psychiatrist
that the refusal to turn off the lights at night was affecting my
ability to rest and sleep and this, in turn, affected my health
adding to my inability to eat during the day. Obviously, this
fell on deaf ears.
I nevertheless tried to eat as much as
possible, usually managing a few mouthfuls, just so that I would
not be accused of deliberately refusing to eat. Because of the
sleep deprivation, I was not able to gain back the weight I had
lost (about 5 kg) when I refused to eat the food during the first
week of my incarceration.
Lastly, my lawyer, my family
members and I have repeatedly asked for a complete set of my
medical test results to be given to us. To date, after more than
a week, we still have not received it.
Given what I have
just revealed, it is imperative that the Government answer the
following questions:
1. Why was my food tray marked ‘S’
when others’ were not?
2. Why were my books taken
away from me when I returned to the prison from the hospital?
3.
Why was the light in my cell left on throughout the night thus
depriving me of sleep?
|
|
