NEWS: SMH - 20/7/08 - 'ABC journalist seeks to dispute Singapore drugs charge'

ABC journalist seeks to dispute Singapore drugs charge
Kerry-Anne Walsh and Eamonn Duff
July 20, 2008

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LAWYERS for ABC journalist Peter Lloyd will raise questions about the circumstances surrounding his arrest for drug trafficking.

ABC lawyers have arrived in Singapore following the charging of Lloyd on Friday night. The journalist is alleged to have given a packet of crystalline substance, believed to contain methamphetamine, to a man named Sani Saidi, 31, in return for $100 at a Singapore hotel on July 9. A week later, he allegedly had a packet of a cystalline substance in a Singapore hotel room, where he was staying. It is understood that ABC lawyers will investigate what led Saidi to claim Lloyd had "sold" him the drug.

Colleagues say suspicions are emerging that Saidi had implicated Lloyd in exchange for a lesser charge.

If convicted of trafficking, Lloyd faces between five and 20 years in jail plus five to 15 strokes of the cane.

Flanked by Australian consular staff at a Singapore hospital, Lloyd was charged with trafficking in, and possession of, a controlled drug.

Stunned workmates grappled with the twist in the life of a colleague who had struggled for several years with his sexuality. Colleagues said his personal turmoil was compounded by the stress of covering disaster stories such as the 2004 tsunami.

It is understood Lloyd and his estranged wife, Kirsty McIvor, had remained good friends after he "outed" himself about six months ago.

Lloyd had told colleagues he was anticipating returning to Australia to explain his personal life to family

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It was the only Airport around the world where I saw the police had sub machine guns.

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static_mind said:

When I flew through Singapore as we came into land the pilot said "Welcome to Sinagapore. Local time is 8pm its 22.c and just a note that people caught smuggeling drugs through Singapore will be sentenced to death. When you fill out the immigration cards they have written accross them in red letters DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICERS UNDER SINGAPORE LAW". It was the only Airport around the world where I saw the police had sub machine guns.

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Australian television reporter Peter Lloyd, charged with drug trafficking in Singapore, has been moved from a local hospital to a prison medical facility, staff at the institutions said today.

Lloyd, 41, was discharged from the Changi General Hospital yesterday, a hospital information staffer told AFP today.
Public inquiry officers from the prison service said Lloyd was in the medical facility at the Changi Prison complex.
Lloyd, the South Asia correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, is charged with trafficking about one gram of methamphetamine to a Singaporean for 100 Singapore dollars ($A75) at a hotel early this month.

He also faces a second charge for allegedly being in possession of about one gram of the stimulant methamphetamine, also known as “ice”, at a local hospital.

A district judge and a police prosecutor were at Changi General Hospital yesterday afternoon to lay the charges on Lloyd, who was suffering from an eye infection, The Straits Times reported today.

A Central Narcotics Bureau spokeswoman told AFP that Lloyd had been offered bail and that his case would be heard in court on Friday.

If convicted of the trafficking charge, Lloyd faces between five and 20 years' imprisonment and five to 15 strokes of the cane.

An earlier Central Narcotics Bureau statement said investigations showed a 41-year-old Australian was the “supplier“ to a Singaporean drug abuser arrested on Wednesday.

It did not name the Australian but said he was under investigation for trafficking a controlled drug.

The Australian was arrested and in the course of follow-up search, the officers recovered a packet of “ice” weighing approximately 0.8 grams, one improvised smoking pipe and six syringes, the statement said.

Lloyd is on leave in Singapore from his posting in New Delhi, the director of ABC News, John Cameron, said on the network's website.

The ABC said it had sent a lawyer to Singapore to represent Lloyd and was in close contact with consular officials in Singapore.

Lloyd's estranged wife Kirsty McIvor yesterday declined to comment, saying she was too upset.

The couple have two children.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith will be in Singapore next week for ASEAN-related issues and will discuss Lloyd's case with the Australian high commissioner.

“I'll be in a position to speak first hand to the high commissioner and ensure personally that anything we can do when it comes to consular assistance is done for Mr Lloyd and his family,” he said.

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Redleader said:

OZ seems to be more keen on actually scanning/sniffing your stuff in front of you. I.

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New Special K drug charge for ABC journo
By Karen Michelmore in Singapore
July 25, 2008 01:11pm

THREE new charges have been laid against veteran ABC journalist Peter Lloyd during an appearance in a Singapore court on drug charges.

They include one count of possessing utensils that carried traces of the veterinary drug ketamine.

Nicknamed Special K, ketamine is also a recreational drug used for its psychedelic or hallucinogenic effects.

The other two new charges are methamphetamine consumption without authorisation, and possessing utensils that carried traces of methamphetamine, a charge sheet shows.

The consumption charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail or a $S20,000 ($15,400) fine, or both.

The other two charges each carry a maximum penalty of three years in jail or a $S10,000 fine or both.

The ABC's South Asia correspondent appeared today in the Singapore Subordinates Court on charges of possessing and trafficking the drug ice but during the brief hearing the court was told the new charges had been laid.

The original charges carry penalties of up to 20 years' jail and 15 strokes of the cane.

Outside court, defence lawyer Tan Jee Ming said he wanted more time to study the new charges but, asked how serious they were, said:"Comparatively, not that serious."

Lloyd, 41, said nothing as he stood before the judge, who extended his bail before adjourning the case for a week.

The New Delhi-based foreign correspondent was released on bail on Wednesday after being arrested last week while on leave in Singapore.

He was initially charged with trafficking about 1g of methamphetamine to a Singaporean for $S100 ($75) at a hotel early this month.

He was also charged with allegedly being in possession of about 1g of ice.

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Lloyd vows to fight charges
July 27, 2008 01:20pm

ABC foreign correspondent Peter Lloyd has vowed to stay in Singapore to face drug charges that could put him in jail for 20 years.
While there have been calls for him to run, Lloyd, 41, has told The Sun-Herald: "I've never ever considered attempting to flee. I will remain in Singapore.''

In his first interview since being charged with trafficking and possessing drugs, he revealed he had been suffering traumatic flashbacks and nightmares after covering the region's tragedies, such as the Bali bombings and the tsunami.
These had left him too afraid to sleep, a phobia which peaked in the two months leading up to his July 16 arrest, he said.

Lloyd - who separated from wife Kirsty McIvor six months ago and declared himself gay - faces a maximum sentence of 20 years and 15 strokes of the rattan cane for allegedly selling 0.15 grams of ice for $A76 to a Singaporean man at the York Hotel on July 9.

Police also allegedly found 0.41 grams of the methamphetamine on him, along with utensils bearing traces of ice and the veterinary drug Special K, when he was arrested at Mount Elizabeth Hospital a week later.

He was based in New Delhi but was in Singapore to seek treatment for an eye infection. Yesterday he said he did not have a wild or risk-taking personality and the infection was "in no way connected with drugs''.

Lloyd's partner, Malay-Singaporean Mohamed Mazlee bin Abdul Malik, posted $S60,000 ($45,000) bail for him to walk free on Wednesday. During Lloyd's next court appearance, on Friday, Mr Malik appeared upset, clutching the hand of Lloyd's sister, Cathy Mulcahy.

Lloyd - who is yet to enter a plea - is due back in court next Friday.

Lloyd has been the ABC South Asia correspondent since mid-2002, based in Bangkok before moving to New Delhi in 2006.

Lloyd said he had covered many tragedies - spending days among piled bodies in a Bali mortuary after the October 2002 bombings; interviewing a woman whose Down syndrome son was swept away in the 2004 Asian tsunami; and returning to the mortuary after last October's bombings in Karachi, Pakistan, which he considered a "second Bali''.

The Sun-Herald revealed that Lloyd has signed up a former leading Singapore prosecutor, Hamidul Haq, to his defence team.

Mr Haq successfully prosecuted Singapore's first case involving recreational drugs in 2000 when local actor Michelle Low Lin Lin was jailed for 18 months for possessing cocaine at a nightclub.

A legal source said prosecutors were "scraping the bottom of the barrel'' to find new charges to make an example of Lloyd.

"Recreational drugs are not accepted and anything to do with it (the Singapore government) will come down like a ton of bricks,'' the source said.

Some commentators have suggested Lloyd should jump bail and run. The legal source said if he did he would never be able to return to Australia due to an extradition agreement between the countries.

"If I were to jump, I would not go to a country with a treaty. I should go to Indonesia or Thailand. I have seen some people do it,'' he said.

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ABC man Peter Lloyd 'ice dobber' Sani Bin Saidi rewarded
By Lisa Davies in Singapore
July 28, 2008 12:01am

THE man who dobbed in ABC journalist Peter Lloyd as his ice supplier has no criminal record, but has been described by police as a "drug abuser".

Sani Bin Saidi, 31, was arrested almost two weeks ago in the ground floor lift lobby of a housing commission building, where he surrendered a packet of the drug "ice" weighing 0.6g.

He was also found to have drugs in his system, but because he had no criminal record he was charged with having "one packet of crystalline substance . . . believed to contain methamphetamine".

Under the charge, he is unlikely to go to jail because while the maximum is 10 years jail or a $20,000 fine, the offence does not carry a mandatory minimum.

Local legal sources said police would likely have told bin Saidi to name his supplier or face more serious charges.

Lloyd is accused of selling bin Saidi the drug at the York Hotel between 7pm and 8pm on July 9 - a week before the latter was stopped and searched.

The link between the pair remains unclear.

Bin Saidi was granted bail at $S10,000 while Lloyd had to post $S60,000, equivalent of $45,000.

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