SAF assures that officers involved in death of Dominique Sarron Lee have been punished

After so much revulsion and hostility towards the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) over the tragic end to the case of Dominique Sarron Lee, the military had to defend themselves from further public castigation. 

Last week, it was revealed that the family of Lee — the 21-year-old SAF national serviceman who died during training — had their suit against the SAF dismissed, and were ordered to pay their legal costs. Lee’s mother wrote a heartbreaking plea to her deceased son in a viral Facebook post, in a depressing end to over three years of finding closure

Lee had died in 2012 after an allergic reaction from inhaling zinc chloride fumes, which came from smoke grenades used during the military exercise. In fact, six smoke grenades had been used instead of the regulation-specified two. 

Since the post spread like wildfire across social media over the weekend (loads of angry folks screaming injustice), SAF’s Commander of Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Brigadier General Chan Wing Kai assured that the two officers involved in Lee’s death have already been disciplined in 2013. 

Even though Lee’s platoon commander Captain Najib Hanuk Muhammad Jalal and the training exercise’s chief of safety officer Captain Chia Thye Siong escaped criminal conviction, both were punished according to military law. 

“While the CI and COI (Committee of Inquiry) did not find that the two officers were directly responsible for PTE Lee’s death, the two officers were summarily tried in 2013 for negligent performance of lawful order or duty, found guilty, and punished according to military law,” BG Chan said in a Facebook post

The COI had found that the number of smoke grenades discharged and the distance between the smoke grenades were not according to protocol in the Training Safety Regulations. The only reason why criminal charges were not brought against both officers was that Lee’s acute allergic reaction was not “reasonably foreseeable”. 

BG Chan also debunked beliefs that SAF officers cannot be held liable for any injuries or deaths that happen under their watch. He quotes two cases that SAF servicemen were charged and convicted over causing deaths of fellow soldiers, including one where an overturned jeep resulted in the death of an NSman. 

Apparently, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) had also waived the legal costs awarded to them prior to the most recent lawsuit lodged by the Lee family against the military. Additionally, MINDEF and SAF had also extended help to the family following Dominique’s death, with welfare grants disbursed and an offer of compensation made. 

“We are deeply sorry for the untimely and tragic loss, and the anguish and distress brought to his family,” BG Chan wrote on behalf of the SAF. “We will uphold safety standards while ensuring that we build a strong National Service force able to defend Singapore.”



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