Factors judge considered in sentencing decision

Former transport minister S. Iswaran was handed a one-year jail sentence on Oct 3. This exceeded the requests of both the prosecution and the defence, which Justice Vincent Hoong described as "manifestly inadequate".

- Osmond Chia

The sentence was nearly double that of the six to seven months' jail that Deputy Attorney-General Tai Wei Shyong had asked for, while Iswaran's lawyer, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, had argued for no more than eight weeks.

Iswaran, 62, had on Sept 24 admitted to one charge of obstruction of justice and four charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code, including obtaining valuable items from businessman Ong Beng Seng while in his official capacity.

Here are the key points of Justice Hoong's judgment.

GENERAL DETERRENCE A KEY CONSIDERATION

Rejecting the defence's argument, Justice Hoong said that general deterrence, aimed at setting an example for others who commit offences, should be the primary consideration in his sentencing decision.

"I agree with the prosecution that the higher the office held by the offender as a public servant, the higher his level of culpability," Justice Hoong said in his judgment.

As a minister and chairman of the Formula One (F1) steering committee, Iswaran was tasked to oversee high-level decisions and collaboration between government agencies and the Singapore GP as a national project.

Mr Ong, meanwhile, owned more than 90 per cent of the shares in Singapore GP and had a longstanding relationship with the Government and the Singapore GP, according to court documents.

The judge said that Iswaran's roles wielded influence in matters of great public interest, even if there was no evidence the gifts had influenced decisions over F1 or its contracts.

"Such persons set the tone of public servants in conducting themselves in accordance with high standards of integrity, and must be expected to avoid any perception that they are susceptible to influence to pecuniary benefits." said Justice Hoong.