Shanmugam to make ministerial statement on City Harvest Church ruling in Parliament next month

Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam announced today that he will be making a ministerial statement about the Government’s position on the City Harvest Church ruling, at the next Parliamentary session which will take place on 5 Feb.

The Court of Appeal dismissed a bid by prosecutors to reinstate the original sentences City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee and his group of church leaders, which would have required the group to serve longer jail terms, this morning.

Kong Hee and group were originally sentenced to longer jail terms after they were found guilty of misappropriating about S$50 million of church funds, in October 2015. A three-judge panel at the High Court halved the group’s jail terms after it heard a five-day appeal in court last year.

A panel of five judges at the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s judgment in a packed courtroom this morning. In reading the decision, Judge of Appeal Andrew Phang said that Parliament should shape a remedy if there is any gap in the law. He added: “A hard case should not be allowed to make bad law.”

The Law Minister said that the issue was “a serious matter” on Facebook this afternoon. He also linked the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ statement on the matter, in which the AGC announced that it will work with the relevant ministries on “the appropriate revisions to the Penal Code”.