Iswaran to serve remainder of sentence at home, placed on home detention scheme

S Iswaran has been placed on a home detention scheme starting from Feb. 7, Singapore Prison Service (SPS) confirmed with Mothership.

His jail sentence commenced on Oct. 7, 2024, which meant that his first 122 days were spent in prison.

The former transport minister was sentenced to one year's jail on Oct. 3, 2024, after he pleaded guilty on Sep. 24 to five criminal charges relating to him receiving gifts as a public servant.

Inmates placed on home detention scheme will serve their remaining sentences at their residences under specified conditions.

This includes curfew monitoring using an electronic monitoring tag, being gainfully occupied either in work, study, or training, and reporting to the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) for counselling.

Prisoners can be placed on home detention for not more than one year, with offenders becoming eligible for home detention after serving around one-third of their sentence.

To be eligible, they must have served at least 14 days of a jail term lasting at least four weeks, with terms varying through a notification in the government gazette made by the Home Affairs Minister.

Those eligible must also meet other conditions, such as not having committed certain offences or not being liable to be removed from Singapore after their release.

Prisoners serving a life sentence are not eligible.

Inmates who display good behaviour in prison are eligible for remission after serving two-thirds of their total imprisonment sentence, or after serving 14 days of their sentence.

This may mean Iswaran would be released on a remission order after serving a sentence of eight months.

First Singapore cabinet minister to be imprisoned

Iswaran is the first cabinet minister in Singapore to be imprisoned.

His sentence was significantly longer than what both the prosecution and defence requested, which were six to seven months and eight weeks respectively.

"I’m of the view it is appropriate to impose a sentence in excess of both parties’ positions," said Justice Vincent Hoong when delivering his decision, noting that the sentences the prosecution and defence asked for were "manifestly inadequate".

Former attorney-general Walter Woon told Mothership the sentencing has a "clear signalling effect".

The point that the verdict appears to have made is this: the civil service and the government must be clean and that it must be seen as clean.

Top image via Mothership