• Ms Parti Liyani was given a discharge amounting to an acquittal for her final charge
• Her lawyer will be in talks with the prosecution to get her belongings back
• Temasek International CEO said the public should hear Mr Liew Mun Leong’s side of the story before passing judgement

SINGAPORE — The case against Ms Parti Liyani, the former domestic worker of Changi Airport Group chairman Liew Mun Leong, formally concluded at the State Court on Tuesday (Sept 8), as she was given a discharge amounting to an acquittal on her last outstanding charge. 

This comes after the 46-year-old Indonesian was acquitted last week of her other charges — four counts of stealing about S$34,000 worth of items from Mr Liew and his family. It overturned an earlier conviction that saw her being sentenced to two years and two months’ jail.

This last and fifth charge accused Ms Parti of possessing 18 items that were “reasonably suspected of being fraudulently obtained” in December 2016, when she returned to Singapore to seek employment after being terminated from Mr Liew’s employment on Oct 28 earlier that same year.

The items listed in the charge were six Ez-link cards, a ValueMax pawnshop ticket, a "Rebeanco" bag, a Miu Miu bag, two Prada wallets, a Guess wallet, a Guccinelle watch, a black rubber digital watch, a ring, two necklaces, and a pair of earrings.

They were all of unknown value, and it was not clear if the branded items were authentic.

In the charge sheet, Ms Parti was said to have failed to satisfactorily account for how she came by the items, which amounted to an offence under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order & Nuisance) Act.

If found guilty, she could have been jailed for up to one year or fined up to S$3,000, or get both penalties.

Following Tuesday’s judgement, Ms Parti’s lawyer Anil Balchandani asked the court to order the return of Ms Parti’s items as stated in the fifth charge, and for her information to be removed from the criminal registry, noting that “sometimes, this material is not expunged”.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Gabriel Lim said that he would sort out the return of the items “offline” with Mr Anil, while District Judge Eddy Tham rejected the second application, stating that Ms Parti has the option to take action if her former charges are indeed held against her in future.

Outside the courtroom, Mr Anil told reporters that all the items related to the fifth charge belong to Ms Parti. 

As for the items related to the first four charges, he said that he will be writing to the prosecution to identify what his client wants returned.

He was asked whether he has approached any party to seek compensation for Ms Parti’s loss of wages over the course of the investigations and legal proceedings, which began in December 2016.

He declined to comment, saying that he does not want to “unnecessarily pre-empt” the matter.

NON-PROFIT GROUP DESERVES ‘ALMOST ALL CREDIT’

Ms Parti’s win has drawn praise for Mr Anil, who fought the case pro bono. 

Before Tuesday’s hearing, Mr Anil’s law firm, Red Lion Circle, issued a statement saying that he had “only played a very small part” in the acquittal. 

Migrant worker rights group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics “deserves more and almost all credit”, it added.

The firm also said: “There have been and will be many more losses that will define counsel’s career, but the cause will continue because of the hope provided by the non-governmental organisations. There are many more Parti Liyanis who languish in shelters and our prisons whose attention we, as a nation, should turn to.”