![]() ![]() Said Justice Phang: “A closer examination of Section 409 indicates that the perceived injustice and ‘gaps’ in the law arising from the dated nature of the provision will not only remain but will even be exacerbated if it is construed as liberally as the prosecution proposes.” Of the prosecution seeking a broader definition of the word “agent”, the judge said that too broad a definition would encompass too many officers, including “low-level workers who buy office supplies for company”, and it was “unlikely” that such people should be subject to the same enhanced penalties. As such, it appealed for stiffer sentences for CHC founder Kong Hee, 53, deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng, 45, former finance committee member John Lam, 50, former fund manager Chew Eng Han, 57, former finance managers Serina Wee, 41, and Sharon Tan, 42. The prosecution, represented by Deputy Attorney-General Hri Kumar Nair and Deputy Public Prosecutor Christopher Ong, had argued that the jail terms should reflect the more serious charge of CBT as agents. The judge added that it was not up to the court to alter the language of the provision as it was a “legislative function that belongs exclusively to Parliament”.Ĭity Harvest Church former leaders (top left to bottom right) former finance manager Serina Wee, former fund manager Chew Eng Han, former finance manager Sharon Tan, founder Kong Hee, former pastor Tan Ye Peng and former treasurer John Lam. In a decision delivered to a packed courtroom, Judge of Appeal Andrew Phang said the Court of Appeal agreed that the meaning of “agent” within the relevant section of the penal code referred to a professional agent who offered commercial services to the community at large, which was not what the six were. The crux of the sentencing centred around the legal interpretation of criminal breach of trust (CBT) in relation to the roles played by the CHC ex-leaders. With the decision, the former church leaders need only serve sentences ranging from seven months to three years six months. The ruling by the five-judge Court of Appeal delivered on Thursday (1 February) dismisses the appeal by prosecutors to reinstate the original longer jail terms for church founder Kong Hee and his five former deputies. Singapore’s highest court has maintained the reduced jail terms of the six former leaders of City Harvest Church (CHC) in the long-running case, less than a year after the High Court slashed their sentences. ![]()
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