NCMP Dennis Tan on Benjamin Lim's case: Don't let public confidence in police be adversely affected

Workers’ Party member and Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP), Dennis Tan, has weighed in on the case of the 14-year-old boy, Benjamin Lim, who committed suicide after police interrogation.
Extending his deepest condolences to the parents and family of the boy, Dennis said that he had initially wanted to wait for the authorities to report its findings on the case before commenting.
The NCMP said that he expected the authorities to carry out a thorough and impartial investigation on the entire incident, including on how the interview was conducted. The authorities should also let the public have the full details of the investigations in due course, he said.
This is to ensure that “public confidence in the police force will not be adversely affected by this incident,” Mr Tan remarked.
The opposition party member pointed out how in many other countries, it is a common practice for a minor to be accompanied by an appropriate adult (e.g. parent, guardian, lawyer, social worker or even an adult of his choice) when the minor is being questioned by police, but is “sadly not the case for Singapore so far”.
Mr Tan welcomed Singapore Police Force’s recent announcement to review its procedures on the interrogation of minors.
“I hope that the review will result ultimately in improvements to the current law and protocols,” he said.