Disclosing Iswaran's arrest is CPIB's decision to make, not ministers': PMO

SINGAPORE – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong did not disclose Transport Minister S. Iswaran’s arrest when they spoke about the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau’s (CPIB) probe on July 12 as revealing such information is CPIB’s decision to make.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Thursday that it is usually CPIB, and not ministers, that releases information on people that have been arrested in connection with its investigations.

PMO revealed this in its statement that online blog Political Sophistry has been asked to put up a correction notice, under the law against fake news, on its article about CPIB’s investigation into Mr Iswaran.

The article titled “Upfront and transparent? A timeline of the CPIB investigation into Transport Minister Iswaran” falsely conveyed two points, said PMO.

First, that on July 12, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong did not want to disclose the fact of Mr Iswaran’s arrest because it was politically embarrassing.

Second, that during his doorstop interview on July 12, DPM Wong had deliberately withheld information that Mr Iswaran and tycoon Ong Beng Seng had been arrested in connection with the case because he wanted to conceal the truth.

PMO said both PM Lee’s statement and DPM Wong’s doorstop interview kept to what CPIB had announced earlier that day.

CPIB said in a statement on July 12 that Mr Iswaran is assisting with an investigation it had uncovered. It did not give details on the nature of the probe.

The anti-graft agency said on July 14, in response to media queries, that Mr Iswaran and Mr Ong had been arrested on July 11 and were subsequently released on bail.

PMO said PM Lee and DPM Wong did not want to deviate from what CPIB had announced in its statement as it is related to operational matters.

“Whether to arrest a person under investigation is an operational judgment by CPIB. In addition, whether and when to make public that a person has been arrested in connection with their investigations is a decision for the CPIB.”

In view of that, PM’s statement on July 12 and DPM Wong at his doorstop interview on the same day were consistent with CPIB’s July 12 press release, said PMO.

“It is therefore untrue that PM or DPM Wong did not want to disclose the fact of Minister Iswaran’s arrest because it was politically embarrassing, or that DPM had deliberately withheld information on the arrests because he wanted to conceal the truth,” it added.

“It is also not a case of PM and DPM Wong abdicating their responsibility to disclose such information.”

PMO said ministers have to let CPIB independently decide on the release of operational information. “CPIB must be afforded the necessary time and space it needs to conduct a proper, thorough, and independent investigation,” it added.

Minister in the PMO Indranee Rajah instructed the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) office to issue a correction direction to Political Sophistry.

As required, the blog has posted a correction notice at the top of the article and at the top of the main page of their website. This is so that readers can read both versions and draw their own conclusions, PMO said.

ALSO READ: CPIB probe involving Iswaran a blow to PAP and Govt; important how it is managed, say political observers

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.