Singapore's Indian-origin former minister trial rescheduled to next month

Singapore: The trial of Singapore's former Indian-origin transport minister S Iswaran has been rescheduled to September 10-13, from August 13 (Tuesday), according to media reports.

The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) said the first tranche of trial dates is now fixed for September 10 to 13.

Iswaran intends to appeal a High Court decision, where a judge in July tossed out his bid to compel the prosecution to hand over statements of all its 56 witnesses, according to a report by Channel News Asia.

The 62-year-old former minister faces a total of 35 charges, two of which are for corruption involving about SGD166,000. Another 32 counts are for obtaining items worth more than SGD237,000 as a public servant, while one is for obstructing the course of justice, as reported by The Straits Times.

The charges relate to his dealings with hotel and property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, and Singapore Exchange-listed Lum Chang Holdings’ managing director David Lum.

Iswaran was first handed 27 charges on January 18 this year.

He was accused of obtaining various items from Ong, including tickets to the Singapore Formula One (F1) Grand Prix, and football matches and musical shows in Britain.

Ong, who is chairman of race promoter Singapore GP, is credited with bringing the F1 race to Singapore.

After he was charged, Iswaran issued a statement saying he was innocent, adding that he would focus on clearing his name.

Iswaran resigned from the ruling People's Action Party and stepped down as transport minister as well as his parliamentary seat on January 16.