3 charged over fight outside Zouk

SINGAPORE - Three youths were yesterday charged with rioting outside Zouk nightspot.

Adam Abdul Rashid and Muhammad Ikram Kamsani, both 18, and Wira Andika Ibrahim, 19, are accused of being part of an unlawful assembly with two others. Together, they allegedly punched and kicked 22-year-old Desmond Ang Ming Seng along Kim Seng Road at about 4.57am last Sunday.

The trio were also part of a larger group of seven males arrested in connection with another fight outside the nightspot earlier in the day.

Two more suspects are expected to be charged with rioting today, with police still investigating the remaining suspects.

Police said yesterday they first responded to a scuffle along Jiak Kim Street at 3.56am that morning.

The victim, believed to be an 18-year-old male, reported that he had been attacked by a group which fled before the police arrived.

An hour later, the police were alerted to another scuffle along Kim Seng Road. The second victim, Mr Ang, who was taken to the Singapore General Hospital by ambulance, also told officers he had been attacked by a group, which escaped later.

Police suspected that the same assailants could have been involved in both cases.

After investigations, and with the aid of closed-circuit television footage, officers arrested the seven suspects at various locations hours later.

A Zouk spokesman did not confirm if any of those involved in the two fights had been patrons of the club last Saturday night, but said that its security staff had responded to two fights on Sunday morning.

"For the first scuffle, by the time our security reached the location, it had already dispersed, so there was no need for any further action," she said.

"At 4.57am, when our guys rushed down, they managed to break the fight up and immediately called the police and the ambulance for assistance."

The spokesman added that Zouk hires both security personnel as well as auxiliary police officers. They are stationed both inside and outside the club, on Jiak Kim bridge and along Jiak Kim Street all the way to Kim Seng Road.

Patrons who are caught fighting in the club will have their identity cards photocopied and may be banned. If found guilty of rioting, the suspects each face up to seven years' imprisonment. They may also be caned.

This article was published on April 2 in The Straits Times.

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