Singapore: The Singapore Police and the Attorney General’s Chambers cleared Professor Ethan Putterman today of all charges made against him back in March of 2022. Rejecting the allegations levelled during that month which led to his dismissal from the National University of Singapore the following April, in a letter dated June 22nd, Liao Chengyu of the Criminal Investigation Department of the SSCB, stated “after a careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case and in consultation with the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Police have decided not to take further action.” The exoneration echoes the statement of Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Ong, of the Attorney General’s Chambers, that “no further action” was necessary in his case by the Court.
Back in April and May, the NUS case drew widespread publicity after Professor Putterman was accused by an unnamed student. Today, Professor Putterman said “The accuser in question sent inappropriate emails which I still possess, and by her own admission she got up in the middle of an academic consultation and made a sexual ovation toward me. My mistake was not protesting the advances publicly enough.”
Professor Putterman, an expert on the political philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and author of ‘Rousseau, Law and the Sovereignty of the People’ (Cambridge University Press, 2010), reiterated his unblemished history at NUS spanning over two decades. “A person’s character can’t stay hidden for twenty years. Maybe five or ten, but after twenty such an accusation needs to be scrutinized. In this case, my false accuser had been under psychiatric care for depression among other things. A Russian national, she made a host of demands upon the university just days later.”
The don resigned from NUS on March 22nd yet was later dismissed by NUS after an investigation sided with the student. Earlier, NUS reiterated that its own investigation is independent to the authorities and follows standards set out in the Code of Conduct of the university’s bylaws.
“NUS should have waited for the Police investigation to reach its conclusion,” said Putterman, regardless. “The false allegation I engaged in sexual misconduct is belied by the facts. If I had done what NUS told the media, I’d be prosecuted. Or, at the very least, censored by the courts. Yet the investigation was dropped by the AGC for good reason. Mine isn’t like any of the other cases at NUS, including Jeremy Fernando’s or Ted Hopf’s yet they portrayed them together.”
Putterman added “I requested a polygraph throughout. This said, my esteem for the professionalism and integrity of the Singapore Police Force is great. They are unparalleled in the world today.”
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