SINGAPORE: Original transport secretary S Iswaran was placed in a single-man mobile in jail to shield him from those who might want to hurt him due to his previous jobs as secretary, legal experts told CNA.
Iswaran, 62, began serving his sentence on Monday ( Oct 7 ) after announcing that he will not appeal his 12-month prison word, handed down by the High Court next Thursday.
Iswaran had previously pleaded guilty to five fees, comprising four of accepting useful products as a public servant, and one of obstructing fairness.
In response to CNA’s queries, the Singapore Prison Service ( SPS) had said that Iswaran had been housed in a single-man cell due to “higher safety and security risk” if he were to be housed with other individuals. The authority did not elaborate on what these challenges may get.
Professionals not linked to the situation told CNA that Iswaran would be at higher risk of harm according to his position as a former legislator and secretary.
” There may be individuals who may be motivated to produce him damage or fear of harm because they are not content with him, be it for what he stood for when he held business or for the fact that they feel offended that a man of his position committed for crimes,” Mr Sanjiv Vaswani, managing director of Vaswani Law Chambers.
Concurring, former prosecutor Ramesh Tiwary, who has an namesake law firm, said that the authorities would not want to home Iswaran with inmates who may abuse him.
He disagreed with the possibility that Iswaran may seep state secrets during his period of incarceration.
” The way I see it: There are people serving imprisonment or ( who are ) remanded who may not be very happy with the establishment, with the system, and who may try to pick on him,” said Mr Tiwary.
” You ca n’t keep your eyes on somebody 24 hours. I think to be on the safe side, they are really segregating him at this moment. “
The attorney added that segregating an criminal was not uncommon, particularly if there was a risk to the child’s safety.
He gave the example of a jail agent who commits a crime and is jailed.
” You may have people in prison who are very angry with you,” said Mr Tiwary, adding that SPS would then have to take precautions.
Another prisoners could be placed in single-man cell to prevent the spread of disease, like during the COVID-19 crisis, or simply because that was the only battery accessible, he said.
“ It is not an unusual issue. I’ve known several of my clients to be in single-man body maybe, for a period of time. And they might move ( Iswaran ) after a while, you never know. “
Mr Vaswani said that while jail conditions are elegant, they are not meant to be a” abuse”.
” Captives are treated fairly. Where there is a recognized possible threat to their health, it just makes sense for them to become segregated,” he said.