Law Society V-P Chia Boon Teck posts questions about the victim in Lev Panfilov rape case

The Vice-President of the Singapore’s Law Society has come under fire for remarks he made on a rape case involving TikToker Lev Panfilov.

In a now-deleted LinkedIn post, senior lawyer Chia Boon Teck said he had “so many questions” about the case — mainly about the victim.

Law Society V-P cynically asks whether rape victim was ‘awake’

According to screenshots of his post, Mr Chia, who is the co-managing director of law firm Chia Wong Chambers, first noted that the victim met Panfilov over Tinder.

He cynically asked:

What’s Tinder well known for? It ain’t no LinkedIn.

On the four charges that Panfilov was convicted on, including rape and sexual assault via penetration, the lawyer then exclaimed:

Wow. Was she awake throughout the marathon?

After noting that the victim went to Panfilov’s bedroom, he expressed incredulity, asking whether the rapist’s flatmates could testify to what “sounds” they heard from his room.

He then moved on to the fact that the victim is a then 30-year-old actress and model, quipping:

So not exactly a babe in the woods?

Mr Chia then questioned why the victim decided to get advice on script-writing “at that late hour on the bed of a Russian man she just met on Tinder”.

Referring to the fact that the victim said “no”, he also queried how “no” could have led to four charges.

‘Sounds rather like a date?’: Lawyer

According to the newspaper report on the case, Panfilov booked a Gojek ride for the victim after the rape.

Mr Chia thus remarked:

That sounds rather like a date?

The victim reportedly gave Panfilov her address because she just wanted to go home and would have given anything he wanted. To this, the lawyer enquired:

Out of fear or affection? If fear, fear of what?

He then reacted with disbelief to the fact that the victim was not encouraged to make a police report due to articles about low conviction rates for sexual assault, asking:

Seriously? What articles? Were the articles even talking about Singapore?

Finally, he also questioned how Panfilov’s inconsistent testimonies to the police, video interviews and court ...