Former Singapore transport minister Iswaran placed under house arrest

Disgraced former Singapore transport minister S Iswaran, who is serving a 12-month jail term for obstructing justice and receiving more than US$300,000 of gifts, was placed on home detention scheme from Friday.

“Like all inmates emplaced on the Home Detention Scheme, S Iswaran will serve his remaining sentence at his residence under specified conditions, which include curfew monitoring using an electronic monitoring tag, being gainfully occupied either in work, study or training, and reporting to SPS for counselling,” the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) said on Friday.

Iswaran began his 12-month jail term on October 7 last year. He was the first former cabinet member to be jailed in Singapore after a high-profile trial that gripped the wealthy city state, which is famous for its clean governance.

Lawyers confirmed that in their experience, offenders become eligible for home detention after serving around one-third of their sentence.

“During home detention, inmates who have approved employment can leave the home during their working hours while inmates who are unemployed usually only have a few hours out of the home in the afternoons,” Adrian Wee of Lighthouse Law LLC said.

The Prisons Act provides for home detention to facilitate inmates’ rehabilitation and reintegration into society. Prisoners can be placed on home detention for a period of not more than one year.