Former transport minister S Iswaran arrives at the State Courts to surrender and begin jail term
S Iswaran said in a Facebook statement hours before his scheduled surrender that he would not be appealing his sentence. He thanked his supporters and apologised unreservedly to all Singaporeans.
by Lydia Lam · CNA · JoinSINGAPORE: Former transport minister S Iswaran arrived at the State Courts on Monday (Oct 7) ahead of the deadline given for him to surrender and begin his jail term of 12 months.
Dressed down in a short-sleeved navy shirt and dark pants, the 62-year-old was dropped off in a white Toyota Alphard with a relative at about 3.30pm.
He did not respond to questions from the media about how he felt, any preparations he had made or if he had any message for his former constituents.
He checked on a member of the media who fell down at a flight of steps where others have fallen during media scrums, before entering the court and taking the escalators up to the mentions court on the fourth floor.
A small group of supporters, including his bailor and some of his lawyers from Davinder Singh Chambers, had arrived minutes before and were waiting for him outside Court 4A, where he was to surrender. Iswaran's wife was not present.
When he arrived at the fourth floor, he hugged all seven members of the group, shaking their hands and expressing his appreciation to lawyer Navin Thevar.
He also hugged deputy public prosecutor-turned-defence lawyer Asoka Markandu when the latter appeared in court.
In contrast to previous court appearances where he appeared grim or contemplative, Iswaran seemed to be in a lighter mood on Monday afternoon, smiling and exchanging small talk with his supporters.
He was taken away to begin his jail term after a brief wait in the courtroom.
Iswaran was handed his sentence on Oct 3, with the judge almost doubling the jail term of six to seven months sought by the prosecution.
The 62-year-old said in a statement on Facebook earlier on Monday that he "will not be appealing the sentence handed down by the court".
In his statement, Iswaran said it was important to him that the public prosecutor amended the charges against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act to those under Section 165 of the Penal Code, for the acceptance of gifts by public servants.
"I accept that as a Minister what I did was wrong under Section 165. I accept full responsibility for my actions and apologise unreservedly to all Singaporeans," he wrote.
"My family's well-being and the emotional toll on my loved ones of a long trial extending well into 2025, and possibly beyond, has also weighed heavily on me. The past 15 months have already been most difficult. With this decision, I hope that we can put the pain and anguish behind us, move forward and rebuild our lives together."
He also thanked his family, friends, grassroots leaders, lawyers and supporters.
Iswaran concluded by saying: "Serving my constituents and Singaporeans over the past 3 decades has been the greatest honour of my life. As this chapter of my life comes to a close, my family and I look to the future with gratitude and renewed hope."
An offender has a 14-day window to file an appeal from the date of his sentence, and can file a notice to appeal even while in jail, lawyers told CNA.
Iswaran had pleaded guilty on the first day of trial after the prosecution amended his two corruption charges to charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code, for obtaining valuables from people with links to his official capacity.
He admitted to four counts under Section 165 for obtaining valuables from Singapore GP majority shareholder Ong Beng Seng and construction boss Lum Kok Seng, and one charge of obstructing justice by belatedly repaying the cost of a flight.
Another 30 charges under Section 165 were taken into consideration.
Across all charges, Iswaran admitted to obtaining S$403,300 worth of valuables over seven years, including tickets to musicals, Formula 1 events and football matches, as well as alcohol and a Brompton bicycle gifted to him for his 60th birthday.
Iswaran's lead lawyer, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, had asked for the jail term to be deferred to Oct 7, and for Iswaran to surrender at 4pm at the State Courts that day.
However, he stressed that this was subject to the defence taking instructions from Iswaran, alluding to the possibility of an appeal. In the meantime, there was no change to Iswaran's bail of S$800,000.
Bail is usually increased pending appeal.
A day after Iswaran was sentenced to jail, Ong was handed two charges for abetting Iswaran's obstruction of justice and obtaining gifts.
The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) later said the prosecution would not file any charges against Mr Lum, managing director of Singapore-listed Lum Chang Holdings.
The penalties for obtaining a valuable thing as a public servant are a jail term of up to two years, a fine, or both.
For obstructing justice, an offender can be jailed for up to seven years, fined, or both.
The penalties are the same for abetment of either offence.
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