A former counsellor at the Singaporean Embassy in Japan was arrested in February this year for taking voyeuristic photographs at a public bathhouse in Tokyo while in office. The former counsellor came to Japan in June at the request of the Tokyo Police Department and was voluntarily interrogated. It is unusual for a returning diplomat to be investigated by the police over misconduct during his tenure.
The accused is Sim Siong Chai, 55, a former counsellor at the Singapore Embassy in Japan.
According to the Police, Sim was suspected of breaking into a public bath in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in February while in office, and taking photos of naked junior high school boys and others in the changing rooms with his smartphone, which are violations of the Acts against Trespass to Buildings and Child Pornography.
An employee of the bathhouse witnessed the incident and reported it, but the former counsellor, while admitting that he had taken photos when questioned by police officers, refused to voluntarily accompany the officer to the police station or submit his phone, citing his diplomatic immunity as a diplomat, and returned to Singapore in April.
In May, the Tokyo Police Department requested the embassy to appear before them through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to which the former counsellor responded and came to Japan this month, where he was voluntarily interrogated by the Tokyo Police.
Diplomats are not subject to criminal prosecution in the local country due to diplomatic immunity provided for by international treaties, but the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department sent the former counsellor to the police on June 13 because he came to Japan in a position without diplomatic immunity.
In response to a voluntary investigation, the former counsellor admitted that he had taken voyeuristic photographs several times before and explained that he had come here to reflect and speak from the perspective of a civilian.
It is unusual for a returning diplomat to be investigated by the police over misconduct while in office.
On June 13, prosecutors brought a summary charge against Sim Siong Chai for violating the Nuisance Prevention Ordinance after he was charged with voyeurism in a public bath in Tokyo.
In response, the Tokyo Summary Court issued a summary order for a fine of 300,000 yen.
