Singapore—On Friday, September 4, news broke that the conviction of Indonesian domestic helper Parti Liyani for theft of items amounting to S$34,000 had been overturned. Ms Parti had worked for the family of Liew Mun Leong the chairman of Changi Airport Group, from 2007 until 2016.
In a high profile case that made the news in March of last year, Ms Parti was sentenced to 26 months in prison. Her lawyer, Anil Balchandani of Red Lion Circle Advocates and Solicitors, successfully argued that she had been framed in order to prevent her from filing a complaint with the Manpower Ministry against the Liews for illegal deployment.
Following the news that her conviction had gotten overturned, it was reported that Ms Parti, 46, had forgiven her employers, but asked that they never do what they did to her to other workers, and that Mr Liew ‘apologise to the public.’
However, some are now calling for the accountability of other parties involved in the case. In a thread on Twitter, a netizen who goes by Pantat Kau @ikanselarkuning, and who often comments on political issues in Singapore, writes that Ms Parti’s “case has emerged at a crucial point in our political & social history.”
On the issue of the helper forgiving her employers, which was highlighted in stories by The Straits Times, TODAY Online and other news outlets, the netizen writes, “It’s urgent that we resist this particular media narrative. It sanitizes Parti Liyani’s ordeal, exonerates the Liews, and obstructs accountability from the S’porean state and society.”
https://twitter.com/ikanselarkuning/status/1302502681106198528
And while the helper spoke of her forgiveness of the Liews, the netizen points out that this is not the only thing she and her lawyer talked about. They also, “spoke of criminal justice reform; of reparations; of the prosecution’s (AGC) conduct; of the pressures,” providing screenshots from migrant worker Kokila Annamalai.
Ms Annamalai quoted the words of both during the press conference held by Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME), the group which gave Ms Parti aid during her ordeal, which lasted over three years.
‘Pantat Kau’ added, “Parti’s graciousness should not be weaponized against victims and survivors, nor turned into a virtue that absolves (oppressive) culpable figures and systems.”
The netizen also questioned why other parties involved have not been called to account by mainstream media, “For now, mainstream media has yet to seriously address the roles played by the police, the AGC, district judge Olivia Low, Josephine Teo and the Manpower Ministry, etc.”
‘Pantat Kau’ added that calls for accountability in criminal justice and policing, as well as better protection for migrant workers have been made in the past. “Hardly radical, these demands have been uttered before by @home_migrantssg, legal scholars and sociologists, and most importantly, the migrant workers themselves.”
And because the netizen believes that Ms Parti has been failed by institutions in Singapore, they added an opportunity through which she can be helped, linking a crowdfunding site to help her get back on her feet, and writing “An acquittal, as many have highlighted, is the bare minimum of the justice she deserves.”
Moreover, the netizen also brought up issues such as whether the AGC would be investigated and as well as the prevalence of police engaging in wrongful evidence documentation and erroneous statement recording.
https://twitter.com/ikanselarkuning/status/1302581357051166720
—/TISG
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Domestic helper guilty of stealing from Changi Airport Group chairman and family