Singapore:

Singapore’s Indian-origin former transport minister S Iswaran was handed a one-year jail sentence on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to five charges relating to corruption and blocking of justice in the High Court on September 24.

The sentence is more than the six to seven months asked for by the prosecution, which Justice Hoong considers “manifestly inadequate”.

The higher the office held by the offender as a public servant, the higher his level of culpability, said Justice Hoong.

The former minister is the first person to be prosecuted under Section 165 in post-independent Singapore, reported The Straits Times.

Judge Vincent Hoong turns to the mitigating factors that the defence has highlighted, including Iswaran’s public service to Singapore, his voluntary disgorgement to the benefits and his early plea of guilt.

Given that the rest of the 30 charges that were taken into consideration bear similarities with the proceeded charges where he received gifts, the judge said that these charges revealed the scale and repetition of offending over a significant period of time. This is a culpability-increasing factor, says Judge Hoong.

His public service and contributions to Singapore were at most a neutral factor, adds the judge.

Justice Hoong says he has difficulty believing that Iswaran was remorseful, as the latter had made public statements rejecting the charges as false.

He added that he is unable to accept the defence’s submissions. The accused is only eligible for a sentencing discount of up to 10 per cent.

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