A Malaysian who was hit by a car in Singapore in an accident for which a Romanian diplomat is charged with manslaughter testified today via videolink but could not remember many details.

“I was hit by a car and then brought to hospital. I do not know how I got hit by the car,” Bong Hwee Haw, a 23-year-old Malaysian who was severely injured in the crash, told a Bucharest court.

He said he fell unconscious after being hit and could not confirm he saw the car drive away after the accident.

Silviu Ionescu, a former Romanian charge d’affaires in the city state, is charged with manslaughter, causing physical injuries and making false statements after the accident in December 2009.

The diplomat is alleged to have hit three pedestrians while driving a car belonging to the Romanian mission and to have fled the scene.

Ionescu pleads not guilty. He has always denied he was the driver and says the car was stolen.

Today, an employee of the Romanian embassy in Singapore also testified via videolink that Ionescu had called him on the night of the accident to tell him that the car had been stolen.

One pedestrian, a 30-year-old Malaysian national, suffered brain damage and died on Christmas Day.

Bong Hwee Haw was a friend of the latter. He recalled that they had looked together at pictures of his friend’s honeymoon before walking together to call a taxi. The accident happened as they were on a pedestrian crossing when the light was green for them.

Anil Kumar Nayar, a Singapore envoy attending the hearing in Bucharest, told AFP that “there is a lot of cooperation” between the Romanian and Singapore authorities in the case.

“The important thing is to make sure that justice is done as soon as possible,” he added.

- AFP