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发帖数: 10330 | 1 Parents of U.S. engineer push for murder verdict in Singapore
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/08/us-singapore-usa-engi
By John O'Callaghan
SINGAPORE | Wed May 8, 2013 8:13am EDT
(Reuters) - The parents of Shane Todd, an American engineer found dead in
Singapore last year, intend to prove at a coroner's inquiry that he was
murdered over a project they say involved the illegal transfer of sensitive
technology to China.
But Rick and Mary Todd told Reuters they would push for an investigation by
the U.S. Congress no matter what verdict emerges from the inquiry in
Singapore that starts next Monday.
"We believe China and Singapore are illegally transferring technology, our
technology, from the United States," Mary Todd, a Christian pastor, said in
an interview on Wednesday.
"We believe it's so high up that if our son was murdered, the implications
for Singapore and China are so extreme that they will go to any lengths to
make it look like suicide."
An autopsy in the Southeast Asian city-state concluded that Todd, 31, died
by hanging after his body was found suspended from a door in his apartment
on June 24, two days after he quit his job at Singapore's Institute of
Microelectronics (IME).
The Todds said they had proof, on a hard drive they say they found in the
apartment, that their son worked on a project between state-linked IME and
Chinese telecommunications company Huawei involving the advanced
semiconductor material gallium nitride, which has commercial and military
purposes.
Huawei and Singapore officials have denied the allegations.
The Chinese company, which has been blocked from some projects in Australia
and deemed a security risk by the U.S. Congress on the grounds its equipment
could be used for spying, said in February it had not worked with IME on
any projects involving gallium nitride (GaN).
Colleagues of Todd's at IME told Reuters he had worked on a routine project
testing semiconductors for Huawei.
"We feel we know what happened to our son and we want it to come out and to
be exposed," Mary Todd said.
"If they come out with a verdict of suicide, that's too bad for Singapore.
This is not going to go away. Our government, our FBI, has the proof. We
have it."
Todd "was involved in a small project with Huawei that lasted nine months",
K. Shanmugam, Singapore's foreign minister and law minister, told Reuters in
an interview in late March.
"IME discussed a project involving GaN with Huawei. This GaN project has
been the subject of much, and sometimes breathless, media speculation. The
reality is IME and Huawei could not agree terms on the project and thus the
project never materialized."
'PUBLIC AND TRANSPARENT'
Singapore's state coroner, Imran Abdul Hamid, has set aside 12 days to
review the forensic reports and weigh testimony from the police, experts and
other witnesses. The Todds can testify and ask questions themselves or
through their lawyer.
Imran, a former prosecutor at the Attorney General's Office, has a
reputation for being tough with police if he thinks their work has been
sloppy.
"It will be a public and transparent process," Shanmugam, who discussed the
Todd case with U.S. officials during a visit to Washington in March, told
Reuters.
Interviews by Reuters with Todd's family, colleagues and friends last July
revealed conflicting views on his state of mind before his death, the nature
of his work and how he died.
Colleagues said Todd was depressed in his last few months, his concerns
appearing to centre on a sense of failure about his work and ambivalence
about returning to the United States.
The Todds dispute that, saying they were in frequent contact with their son
and he had expressed fears for his life related to his work at IME.
IME is part of a network of research institutes managed by Singapore's
Agency for Science, Technology and Research, or A*Star. During his visit to
Washington, Shanmugam said IME was subject to a "very rigorous audit" to
ensure there was no improper transfer of technology.
Senator Max Baucus, who represents Todd's home state of Montana, has said he
will "stop at nothing" to satisfy the Todd family or determine there had
been no transfer of technology that might jeopardize U.S. security.
"This is far bigger than our son's death. This is a matter of national
security. Our goal is to take it to a congressional investigation," said
Rick Todd, an airline pilot.
"When it comes down to it, it doesn't matter what they decide. It matters
for Singapore because it shows how they run things. It will come out in the
trial, but the significance for the world is what we're concerned about."
(Additional reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by Ron Popeski) |
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