SINGAPORE, Oct 2 — The High Court in Singapore has adjourned the appeal of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) director-general Gilbert Oh Hin Kwan against his jail sentence for the misuse of diplomatic bags. According to The Straits Times , the adjournment allows both parties to clarify the terms of Oh’s guilty plea. During the appeal yesterday, Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng, representing Oh, said an agreement had been made that the prosecution would seek a fine if Oh pleaded guilty to providing false information.
Tan added, “If the custodial threshold has been crossed, the court should consider imposing a community service order or a short detention order instead.” He described the one-week jail sentence as “manifestly excessive” and urged High Court Justice Dedar Singh Gill to set aside the decision and instead uphold the prosecution’s initial recommendation of a fine. He said the district judge had erred by rejecting the prosecution’s argument that “little, if any, appreciable harm” resulted from Oh’s false statement.
Oh, 45, pleaded guilty in April to providing false information to a public servant. He also faces two additional charges for abetting cheating in the MFA, involving the use of the diplomatic bag service to courier luxury watches and send Panadol. In May, District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz sentenced Oh to one week in jail, despite both the prosecution and defence recommending a fine.
The prosecution sought a fine between US$6,000 and U.