Key moments from inside the courtroom

Prosecution amends graft charges; Iswaran opts to admit guilt, not proceed with trial

Former transport minister S. Iswaran was convicted of five charges on what was to have been the first day of his trial.

He pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining, as a public servant, valuable items from Formula One (F1) race promoter Singapore GP's chairman, Mr Ong Beng Seng, and Mr David Lum, managing director of mainboard-listed construction company Lum Chang Holdings.

Iswaran, 62, also admitted to one charge of obstructing the course of justice. He had repaid more than $5,000 to Singapore GP for the cost of his business-class flight from Doha to Singapore that he took on Dec 11, 2022, at Mr Ong's expense through the company.

Here are the key moments from the courtroom on Sept 24.

ISWARAN DECIDES TO PLEAD GUILTY

More than eight months after he was first charged, Iswaran arrived in court close to 9.30am.

He faced a total of 35 charges, including two for corruption, one for performing an act that could likely obstruct the course of justice, and the remaining 32 under Section 165 of the Penal Code.

Section 165 makes it an offence for a public servant to accept or obtain anything of value, for free or for inadequate payment, from any person with whom he is involved in an official capacity.

Iswaran was accused of obtaining items worth more than $400,000 from Mr Ong and Mr Lum. The items included tickets to F1 races, football matches, bottles of whisky and a Brompton bicycle.

At the start of proceedings, the prosecution amended the two corruption charges to charges under Section 165.

Deputy Attorney-General Tai Wei Shyong said the prosecution would proceed with four charges under Section 165 and one count of obstructing the course of justice, with the remaining 30 charges taken into consideration.

Iswaran's lawyer, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, said his client would take a "certain course of action", after the prosecution decided not to proceed with the corruption charges.