FORMER minister S Iswaran has pleaded guilty to five charges – not including corruption – on Tuesday (Sep 24), with the sentencing hearing adjourning until 3:15pm the same afternoon.
The prosecution is seeking a total of six to seven months of imprisonment, while the defence is asking for a total of eight weeks’ jail instead.
Iswaran had earlier faced one charge of obstruction of justice; two charges of corruption; and 32 charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code. Section 165 prohibits a public servant from accepting any valuable thing with zero or inadequate consideration, from someone connected to any proceedings or business transactions that he or she handles.
But at the start of the trial on Tuesday, the court heard that the prosecution would be proceeding on four charges under Section 165 and one charge of obstruction of justice. The prosecution applied for the other charges to be taken into consideration for sentencing.
After an adjournment for the charges to be read to Iswaran, court resumed and he pleaded guilty to all five charges. The judge accepted his plea and convicted him of the charges.
The prosecution’s proposals
Deputy Attorney-General Tai Wei Shyong said the prosecution considered three factors in its sentencing proposals: that Iswaran was a public servant at the time of the offences; that he obtained “valuable things” for no consideration; and that he knew that the givers were involved in business transactions related to his official functions as a minister.
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Tai argued that with a minister repeatedly obtaining gifts over a long term, public confidence and the impartiality of the government will be severely undermined.
“Not punishing such an act will send a signal that such acts are to be tolerated,” he
