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Jean Iau

Singapore’s highest court has upheld a S$14,000 (US$10,800) fine imposed on opposition leader Pritam Singh for lying to a parliamentary committee.
In February, the Workers’ Party (WP) chief was found guilty on two counts of giving false testimony to a committee investigating a lie told by Raeesah Khan, a former member of parliament for the party.
Singh, who pleaded not guilty, received the maximum fine of S$7,000 for each charge following a 13-day trial.
The 49-year-old appealed against his conviction before Justice Steven Chong last month.
On Thursday morning, Singh arrived at the Supreme Court to hear the verdict before a packed courtroom that included WP MPs Gerald Giam and Fadli Fawzi.
In dismissing the appeal, Justice Chong found that Singh “did not hold” any intention for Khan to come clean about her falsehood for at least two months between the time he had learned of the lie and when it was decided she should come clean.
“The appellant was confronted with an inconvenient truth: a sitting MP from his party had told the untruth, an unsolicited lie … The appellant was hoping that he would not have to deal with it,” the judge said.
Chong added that this explained why WP leaders had been weighing issues such as whether the lie would be raised again in parliament and whether the government might uncover the truth.
Speaking to reporters after paying his fine, Singh said he was disappointed but respected and fully accepted the judgment.
“I certainly took too long to respond to Raeesah’s lie in parliament; I take responsibility for that,” he said.
“Being an opposition member of parliament, I will have political differences with my opponents, but those differences do not extend to tearing the system down and questioning or impugning the integrity of the courts or even civil servants; for example, that cannot be how we conduct opposition politics in Singapore,” Singh added.

The criminal case against Singh stemmed from lies Khan told to parliament in August and October 2021 about accompanying a rape victim to a police station. She later admitted in parliament that the anecdote was false and that she herself had separately been a victim of sexual assault.
During parliamentary committee hearings in December 2021, Singh testified that he had urged Khan to clarify her false statement on August 8 that year, and later told her on October 3 that she should address the lie if it came up in parliament the following day.
Khan, however, maintained that Singh had told her the lie was something they would “take to the grave”.
During last month’s appeal hearing, Singh’s lawyer Andre Jumabhoy argued that the trial judge had erred in finding Khan’s testimony “unusually convincing”.
The court also heard more details about what Singh meant when he told Khan “I won’t judge you” on October 3, 2021.
Khan said she interpreted this as approval to persist with her story, while Singh maintained that he meant she must “take ownership and responsibility”.
Deputy Attorney General Goh Yihan, representing the prosecution, countered that Singh had failed to follow up with Khan after she admitted the lie. “This radio silence speaks volumes,” Goh said.
In his written judgment, Justice Chong said it was the totality of the evidence, not Khan’s testimony alone, that led the trial judge to convict Singh.
He noted that Singh had not called on other WP leaders present at key meetings to testify, saying it was “curious” that he did not “avail himself of seemingly available evidence which may have corroborated his account”.
Under Singapore’s constitution, an MP faces disqualification from parliament if convicted of an offence carrying a jail term of at least one year or a fine of S$10,000 or more. Each count of lying under oath before a parliamentary committee carries a maximum penalty of a S$7,000 fine and three years’ imprisonment.
Khan was fined S$35,000 for her role in the scandal. She subsequently left the WP and vacated her parliamentary seat in November 2021.
Singh has represented the WP stronghold of Aljunied since 2011 and has led the party since 2018.


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The Workers’ Party chief was in February found guilty of two counts of giving false testimony to a parliamentary committee and fined


The Workers’ Party chief was in February found guilty of two counts of giving false testimony to a parliamentary committee and fined.


Pritam Singh

Workers’ Party

Singapore’s Pritam Singh loses appeal against conviction for lying to parliamentary panel

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Workers’ Party chief was in February found guilty of two counts of giving false testimony to a parliamentary committee and fined

The Workers’ Party chief was in February found guilty of two counts of giving false testimony to a parliamentary committee and fined