SINGAPORE (AFP) – A Singapore court on Thursday sentenced former transport minister S. Iswaran to 12 months in prison, local media reported, in the financial hub’s first case involving a political office holder in more than four decades.
After Iswaran was convicted last week of obstruction of justice and accepting illegal gifts, prosecutors had sought a six-to-seven-month sentence, The Straits Times reported.
But the defence team for the former minister, who is known for helping to bring Formula One to the wealthy city-state, had argued for a maximum sentence of eight weeks.
Earlier this year, Iswaran was hit with 35 charges mostly related to graft in a nation often cited as one of the world’s least corrupt.
But prosecutors moved forward with five lesser charges only, including some related to a billionaire property tycoon.
Iswaran quit in January after being formally notified of the charges, which include accepting gifts worth more than USD300,000.
In a resignation letter at the time, he said he would clear his name in court.
Iswaran has paid back around USD295,000 in financial gain to the government, and gifts including a Brompton bicycle were also seized from him, the attorney general’s office said.
His trial has been deemed by observers to be one of the most politically significant in the city-state’s history.
Singapore’s last senior politician convicted for graft dates to 1975, when Wee Toon Boon, then minister of state for environment, was found guilty of accepting bribes worth more than USD600,000 according to local media.
