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Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng is giving a full account in Parliament of how terror fugitive Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from the Whitley Road detention centre on Feb 27 today.
He outlined three points of oversight that led to Mas Selamat's successful escape.
These are:
1) The ventilation window in the toilet cubicle that Mas Selamat went to relieve himself was not grilled.
2) The guard who escorted the detainee to the toilet allowed him to close the urinal cubicle door and let him get out of the line of sight. When he took too long in the toilet, the guard did not take immediate action, but informed the superintendent.
3) Mas Selamat managed to get over the double perimeter fencing of the Whitley Road detention centre after climbing out of the ventilation window, possibly by climbing onto the roof of an enclosed staircase and walkway which converges with the perimeter fencing.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is also scheduled to make a ministerial statement on 'Government Responsibility', according to the Order Paper for Monday's Parliament sitting.
Several Cabinet ministers have come out in the past few weeks to admit that the escape was a blow to Singapore's security forces, but maintained that one incident like this should not mar years of good work by the security agencies.
Mas Selamat, 47, led the local JI network but evaded a 2001 dragnet that nabbed 13 JI members here by fleeing to Indonesia.
The Indonesian authorities caught and handed him over to Singapore in 2006.
His escape in February has resulted in public criticism of Singapore's security agencies, prompting Deputy Prime Minister S.Jayakumar to point out this week that one incident should not overshadow the Home Team's work in keeping Singapore safe.
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