Oral Answer on Mas Selamat Kastari's escape by Mr Wong Kan Seng, DPM & Minister for Home Affairs

Oral Answer to Mr Christopher De Souza who asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether Mas Selamat Kastari has revealed how he escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre (WRDC); (b) if so, whether his account is consistent with the findings of the Committee of Inquiry; and (c) if he has also revealed how he managed to leave Singapore and make his way to Malaysia, 18 October 2010

Mr Christopher De Souza:

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether Mas Selamat Kastari has revealed how he escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre (WRDC); (b) if so, whether his account is consistent with the findings of the Committee of Inquiry; and (c) if he has also revealed how he managed to leave Singapore and make his way to Malaysia.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Wong Kan Seng:

On 21 Apr 2008, I had given this House a detailed account of the findings of the Committee of Inquiry (COI) that was convened to establish, based on the facts available then, how Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre (WRDC) on 27 Feb 2008

2 Mas Selamat is now back in our custody. He was handed over to ISD by the Malaysian Special Task Force (STF) on 24 Sep 2010. He was then arrested by ISD under the ISA and an Order of Detention for 2 years has just been issued against him.

3 There are two primary issues which investigators in this case are pursuing at present. A team of investigators from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been assigned to question Mas Selamat on his escape from the WRDC. Another team of investigators and analysts from ISD is investigating the case from a security or counter-terrorism angle. This includes both determining the terrorist attack plans that had surfaced in investigations by the Malaysian security agencies and identifying the residual elements of the JI network, whether Singaporeans or others, with whom Mas Selamat had made contact and sought to regroup and collaborate to develop such plans. The CID and ISD teams work in parallel but keep each other apprised of key disclosures or discoveries.

4 Although the investigations into Mas Selamat’s escape from WRDC in 2008 are continuing, to-date what Mas Selamat has disclosed has not been very much more than what he has revealed to the Malaysian authorities. This version of his escape from the WRDC is essentially consistent with the findings of the COI which have been reported and made public.

5 Mas Selamat revealed to investigators that he had observed that there was renovation work going on in the WRDC. There was indeed significant renovation work going on at the WRDC at the time. The renovation work was done in order to enhance old facilities to accommodate and manage the detainees. Mas Selamat also revealed that when he was brought to use a toilet in a renovated and different block from the regular one used in the past for family visits, he noticed that the window to one of the toilet cubicles was not grilled. (See Photo at Annex A1) On his second visit, he managed to open the window of this toilet cubicle by turning the lever even though the handle had been sawn off. (See Photo at Annex A2)

6 Noting this critical security weakness, he then actively planned to escape. He began a routine to close the door of that toilet cubicle and turn on the tap in the cubicle on his next visits. He was trying to get the guards used to this routine during his family visits. He also started hanging his pants over the top of the cubicle door, so as to deceive the guards into thinking that if his pants were still hanging over the top of the door, he was still inside the cubicle.

7 He planned his escape during his family visit on 27 Feb 2008. On that day, when he was brought out of his cell to a changing room to change into civilian clothes in preparation for his weekly family visit, he did not take off his WRDC uniform but instead put on another 2 layers of civilian clothing over the uniform – he first put on a dark green baju kurung and dark blue pants, and then a light green baju kurung and grey pants. He claimed that he had put on 3 layers of clothing.

8 Mas Selamat was then brought by two Gurkha guards to the Family Visitation Block. He was first taken to the toilet before seeing his family. He went into the specific toilet cubicle which he knew had the unsecured ventilation window. One guard went into the toilet with him and waited outside the cubicle. Another guard waited outside the toilet. Mas Selamat then went through his routine of closing the cubicle door, hanging a pair of pants over the top of the cubicle door, and turning on the tap. He then pushed open the unsecured window and climbed out of the toilet cubicle window. (See Photo at Annex A3) He said that he threw two packets of toilet rolls that were in the cubicle out of the window to cushion his landing.

9 When he was standing outside the toilet, he observed that the fences to the left and in front of him were too high to scale. He made his way to the right hand side and came to a slope where two fences met. (See Photo at Annex A4) One of the fences had a roof next to it; he climbed the fence and threw one of the packets of toilet rolls onto the roof, before climbing onto the roof. He made his way to the edge of the roof and threw the bag of toilet rolls onto the grass on the external side of the fence, to cushion his landing, then jumped off the roof over the fence and landed on the grass outside of the WRDC. Having escaped from the WRDC, he headed into the forested area. Mas Selamat said that while he was in the forested area, he took off the light green baju kurung and threw it on the ground, as the guards had seen him in that garb and he did not want to be recognised or detected.

10 These disclosures were generally consistent with the findings of the COI which enquired into how Mas Selamat escaped from the WRDC. As to how he eventually escaped from Singapore to Malaysia, this is something which the current investigations are looking into. In this connection, Mas Selamat has not given a completely reliable account of how he evaded detection while a manhunt was launched to find him and how he made his way to Malaysia. As this is the part of his escape which is still under active investigation, I am not able to share any details at this stage other than to say that the investigators are not closing any option. The CID and ISD investigators are not taking anything for granted in this case. They will keep an open mind and persist.

11 When Mas Selamat escaped, ISD officers never gave up and did not rest until they managed to track him down to where he was hiding in Malaysia. Likewise, I am confident that our officers will continue to persevere in what has been a difficult and challenging investigation. Underestimating Mas Selamat and the resilience of JI sympathisers and elements would be most dangerous folly. Indeed it is people like Mas Selamat who underscore how persistently real the threat of terrorism continues to be for Singapore and Singaporeans.

For Comments and Press Statement on the Re-arrest of Mas Selamat Kastari, please click here.