SINGAPORE has not heard officially from the Romanian government after it made a formal request about a fortnight ago for Dr Silviu Ionescu coroner’s inquiry here.

A second request to waive the diplomatic immunity of the Romanian Embassy driver, so that he can give evidence at the upcoming inquiry, has not drawn an official response as well.

Both requests were communicated through the diplomatic notes- Third Party Notes (TPN)- when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs(MFA) summoned Romania’s ambassador to Singapore who is based in Tokyo, for a meeting on Feb 11.

Foreign Minister George Yeo told Parliament on 22 February: “The Romanian government has not yet responded officially to these TPNs.  We trust that they will do so without undue delay as the coroner’s inquiry will begin in March.”

He was responding to Nominated MP Calvin Cheng, who asked about the Government’s measures to ensure that investigations into the hit-and-run case on Dec 15 continue.

While Romania’s Foreign Affairs Ministry had issued responses to the media concerning Singapore’s requests, some statements stood in apparent conflict, noted Mr Yeo.  In any case, Singapore had to wait for the official replies.

Mr Yeo said:” But again we have yet to officially hear from the Romanian government on this.”

The Minister also revealed that during the Feb 11 meeting with Romanian Ambassador Aurelian Neagu, the Singapore MFA had asked for an”undertaking” that Dr Ionescu would be sentenced to a penalty that was “commensurate with his actions” if he was found guilty.

He said:” We were assured by Ambassador Neagu that Romania would follow the full extent of its own law.  The ambassador also assured that he understood our concerns and that the Romanian people understood our concerns.”

The case has stirred outrage in Singapore, which Mr Yeo said he “fully” understood, though “we should never do anything that is not in keeping with due legal process nor descend into trial by media.”

Noting that Romania faced a similar situation when a Romanian was killed by an American with Diplomatic immunity in December 2004, Mr Yeo said:” We have left the Romanian government in no doubt about the depth of feelings in Singapore on this matter.”

He said:” What we do next will depend on the outcome of our coroner’s inquiry and the Romanian government’s response to our requests.   We are closely monitoring what the Romanian authorities are doing.”

Replying later to Mr Sin Boon Ann (Tampines GRC), Mr Yeo said that the coroner’s inquiry will take place whether or not Dr Ionescu returns to Singapore. However the latter cannot be extradited as Singapore has no extradition treaty with Romania.

Ms Irene Ng (Tampines GRC) asked if there was a “lack of sincerity” on the part of the Romanian government.

In response, Mr Yeo noted that “due process” was under way in both countries.

“Let us take this one step at a time and not speculate, because acting in haste or over-speculating may be injurious to our own case itself,” he said.