Jail term 'too harsh' for role

[Sun Wukong]

Singapore
Feb 8, 2010

Jail term 'too harsh' for role

<!-- by line --> By Khushwant Singh

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Eight months in jail is too harsh a punishment for the minor role Whang Sung Lin (above) played in Singapore's first illegal organ transplant case, said his lawyer on Monday. -- ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG

Mr Tang Wee Sung (above) was dying and had been seeking a kidney donor in various foreign countries for some time. -- ST PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA

EIGHT months in jail is too harsh a punishment for the minor role Whang Sung Lin played in Singapore's first illegal organ transplant case, said his lawyer on Monday. The 45-year-old businessman had merely given his uncle-in-law Tang Wee Sung, whose kidneys were failing, the telephone number of organ dealer Wang Chin Sing, said Mr Subhas Anandan. For this, he was convicted and sentenced last June for instigating his friend, Mr Wang, 44, and retail magnate Tang, 56, to form an illegal arrangement to buy a kidney for the ailing Mr Tang in 2008.

There was no instigation, Mr Anandan argued at the appeal in the High Court on Monday. Whang was 'merely a conduit and definitely not the catalyst', he said. Mr Tang, 56, needed no instigation. He was dying and had been seeking a kidney donor in various foreign countries for some time. As for the organ procurer, Wang needed no goading as he had arranged organ transplants in the past and admitted that this was his business. Disagreeing that Whang's role was minor, Deputy Public Prosecutor Chay Yuen Fatt said that it was Whang who instigated Mr Wang to demand $300,000 from Mr Tang. Justice Tay Yong Kwang will deliver his decision on Feb 12.

 

[tommyh]

got $ will travel lah. 154th in spin mode

 

[Tadakatsu Honda]

Businessman's term halved

Singapore
Feb 13, 2010

KIDNEY-FOR-SALE CASE
Businessman's term halved

<!-- by line --> By Khushwant Singh
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<!-- end left side bar --> <!-- story content : start --> WHANG Sung Lin knew his uncle-in-law, magnate Tang Wee Sung, needed a kidney badly and Whang wanted to milk him for what it was worth. He introduced Mr Tang to illegal organ trader Wang Chin Sing but told Mr Wang to 'charge more than the usual price' so Whang himself could get a hefty cut from the transaction. Whang, 45, a businessman, was jailed for eight months last year for instigating the two men to carry out the illegal organ trade. However, the High Court shaved four months off Whang's jail term on Friday when he appealed against the sentence. Justice Tay Yong Kwang said Whang was merely helping the two men strike a deal - and not instigating them to commit an offence. The only time Whang ever goaded Mr Wang in the illegal transaction was when he asked him to charge a higher fee, said the judge. But this, the judge said, could not be considered as instigating the illegal plan.

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.