Singaporean lawyer suspended for five years for ‘disgraceful’ behaviour in molestation trial
Lawyer asked the victim in the case to stand up and sit down in order to assess her attractiveness, while scrutinising her chest
By Louisa Tang
Singaporean lawyer Edmund Wong Sin Yee, who had been widely criticised for his “scandalous” cross-examination of a female molest victim in 2016, has been suspended from practising law for five years — the maximum punishment for lawyers hauled before a disciplinary hearing in the country.
Mr Chandra Mohan, who was representing the Law Society of Singapore, had sought a suspension of 12 to 18 months for Mr Wong based solely on his behaviour during the 2016 trial.
But a coram of three Court of Appeal judges who presided over the hearing on Wednesday — Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, and Judges of Appeal Judith Prakash and Steven Chong — decided to impose the maximum penalty on the lawyer.
The judges also had harsh words for Mr Wong, and deemed his behaviour during the trial “cruel and humiliating”. His suspension will commence in two weeks.
Mr Wong, who is in his late 50s and runs S Y Wong Law Chambers, was not present in court on Wednesday. He was represented by Mr Suang Wijaya and Mr Eugene Thuraisingam, who declined to say why their client was absent from the disciplinary hearing.