Iswaran’s graft trial set to begin on Sep 10
The first period of the trial will be for four days and will end on Sep 13
THE trial dates for former transport minister S Iswaran’s high-profile graft case have been fixed for September.
The first day of the trial will take place on Sep 10, with hearings each day for four days until Sep 13, a spokesperson from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said on Monday (Aug 12) in response to media queries.
The trial was originally set to commence on Aug 13, but those dates were vacated at the request of the defence counsel, the spokesperson added.
However, Iswaran’s legal team, led by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, issued a statement to the media to refute this.
The lawyers said that the change of dates is because the former minister intends to apply to the Court of Appeal “for permission to refer to it the question whether the prosecution has to provide him with witness statements in support of the charges before the trial starts”.
In July, the High Court denied the defence’s request for the prosecution to hand over certain written statements from witnesses set to take the stand in the trial.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Iswaran’s lawyers had argued that the prosecution should produce these “conditioned statements” as part of its obligation under Section 214(1)(d) of the Criminal Procedure Code to disclose relevant evidence to the other party before trial, in a process known as pre-trial discovery.
“If permission is granted, the Court of Appeal will decide whether the Prosecution has or does not have to produce witness statements before the trial,” the defence counsel said in its statement on Monday.
“As the matter concerns what the prosecution has or does not have to do before the trial starts, and because it was unlikely that the matter would be disposed of before the August dates, those dates had to be vacated.”
The AGC “did not disagree” to the vacation of the August trial dates, the defence team said. “The September dates were not vacated at Iswaran’s request to keep and carry on with the trial on those dates.”
The application for permission to the Court of Appeal will have a chambers hearing on the morning of Aug 16, according to public records.
What the case is about
The 62-year-old Iswaran faces a total of 35 charges, including two counts of corruption. He is accused of obtaining more than S$403,000 worth of items during his time as a public servant.
The charges relate to his dealings with billionaire hotel and property tycoon Ong Beng Seng as well as the managing director of Singapore-listed Lum Chang Holdings, David Lum.
Iswaran was initially slapped with 27 charges relating to his dealings with Ong in January, then handed a fresh set of eight charges relating to his dealings with Lum on Mar 25.
In May, the High Court granted Iswaran’s application to have a single trial for all criminal charges against him, in contrast to the prosecution’s call for separate trials for his dealings with the two businessmen.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
