Germans charged with vandalism in Singapore face flogging

SINGAPORE (AFP) — Two Germans were charged Saturday with breaking into a Singapore metro depot and spray-painting graffiti on a train, offenses punishable by jail time and flogging with a cane.

Andreas Von Knorre and Elton Hinz, both 21, were charged at a district court with vandalism and trespassing in the early hours of Nov. 8.

Both men appeared relaxed as the charges were read to them in German by an interpreter.

Prosecutors told the judge the two men will be remanded in police custody until Nov. 28 “to assist investigations and re-enact the crime scene.”

The charge sheets said Van Knorre and Hinz broke into the suburban depot and spray-painted graffiti on the exterior of a metro train cabin. The depot is a restricted zone surrounded by fences topped with barbed wire.

The two men were extradited by neighboring Malaysia on Friday after being apprehended at Kuala Lumpur International Airport as they were leaving for Australia.

The Straits Times newspaper said in a report Saturday the two men have visas to work in Australia.

For trespassing, they face up to two years in jail and a fine of $800.

For vandalism, they face up to three years in jail, a fine of $1,500 and eight strokes of a rattan cane — a punishment dating back to British colonial rule.

Singapore, a leading Asian financial hub, is well-known for its tough stance on crime.

The city-state’s vandalism laws became global news in 1994 when an American teenager, Michael Fay, was caned for damaging cars and public property despite appeals for clemency from the US government.