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SINGAPORE : More charges have been levied against the two men who tried to escape from the Subordinate Courts' lock-up on Wednesday.
This time, they are accused of assaulting a public servant and trying to escape from legal custody - this in addition to earlier charges of robbery with hurt.
But on a broader scale, observers Channel NewsAsia spoke to said the issue of security in dealing with prisoners and public safety is paramount.
32-year-old Jamaluddin Salam and 28-year-old Salman Abu Samah were brought in Prisons vans to face the charges against them.
And it was maximum security in court too, with at least 10 policemen surrounding them when their names were called.
On Wednesday, under the pretext of asking for water, the two men made an escape from the lock-up after assaulting two policemen.
Subsequently, they took a lift to the fourth floor and forced their way through a locked door to the ground floor public area.
One of the men was caught at the entrance of the Subordinate Court building, and the other a short distance away.
In April, Parliament had debated enhanced security measures extensively, following terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari's escape from the Whitley Road Detention Centre.
Teo Ho Pin, Chairman, Government Parliamentary Committee, Home Affairs and Law, said, "From what I understand from the police, since March they have taken a lot of measures to further enhance our security system, and they have been giving regular briefings to their officers to be vigilant, especially when concerning lock-up areas and a person under custody or remand."
Mohamad Muzammil, a lawyer, said, "The fact that the police came out quite early in their response shows that they are fully conscious that if there had been mistakes and shortcomings by the security agencies, then they would have had to explain; and this is fully appreciated by the members of the public."
A retired officer who was with the force for 37 years said officers are trained to react to incidents like what happened on Wednesday.
Raymond Han, Security and Business Development, G4S Security Services, said, "They are trained in such a way that if there is going to be an escape, they know where are the areas that these people run towards to, and they could actually cover the outlets, so that there is no other way they can come."
The Subordinate Courts was built 30 years ago.
Police did an audit last year and are in the process of improving outdated features at the lock-up area.
Police said that immediately after the incident on Wednesday, several measures were taken to enhance the security at the Subordinate Courts' lock-ups.
Now the Criminal Investigation Department's investigations are on-going and once that is completed, more measures are expected to be instituted.
Mohandas Naidu, a lawyer, said, "More manpower should be (deployed), more police officers should be put to look after the accused persons in the lock up."
Dr Teo said, "Stay alert at all times; in today's context, we are faced with different types of challenges and there are always things to improve, and we should continue to further enhance our security systems in the context of new challenges and terrorism."
This incident is expected to be the subject of further debate at the next sitting of Parliament. - CNA/ms
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