Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh leaving the Supreme Court on Sept 9 after the result of his application for a High Court trial. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
SINGAPORE (The New Straits Times/ANN): The trial of Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh is set to begin on Oct 14 at the State Courts.
Singh, the secretary-general of the Workers’ Party (WP), is expected to contest two charges over alleged lies to a parliamentary committee convened in November 2021 to look into the lying controversy involving former WP MP Raeesah Khan.
The committee had found Ms Khan guilty of abuse of parliamentary privilege and recommended that the former Sengkang GRC MP be fined $35,000. It had also recommended referring Singh and WP vice-chairman Faisal Manap to the public prosecutor for possible criminal charges.
It said Singh had not been truthful in his testimony while under oath, and that Mr Faisal had refused to answer relevant questions that had been put to him.
Singh was charged on March 19, 2024, with giving false answers to the committee’s questions on Dec 10 and Dec 15, 2021, and the WP chief pleaded not guilty. Mr Faisal was not charged, but was issued an advisory by the police to familiarise himself with conduct expected of MPs.
This is the first time in post-independence Singapore that a person has been prosecuted under Section 31(q) of the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act, which makes it an offence to lie in response to questions posed by Parliament or its committee.
For each charge, Singh faces a maximum fine of $7,000, a jail term of up to three years, or both.
In December 2021, Parliament’s Committee of Privileges held hearings into a claim on Aug 3, 2021, by Ms Khan, who said she had accompanied a sexual assault victim to a police station, where the victim was treated insensitively. She repeated the claim before the House on Oct 4 the same year.
This was later found to be untrue, with Ms Khan admitting to lying in Parliament and resigning from WP and as an MP in November that year. She said she had been sexually assaulted herself, and had heard about the victim’s experience at a support group session.
Singh is alleged to have lied to the committee that after a meeting on Aug 8 that year between him, Ms Khan and WP leaders Sylvia Lim and Mr Faisal, he wanted Ms Khan to clarify in Parliament the untruth she had told days before on Aug 3.
The WP chief is also alleged to have provided false testimony that at a meeting with Ms Khan on Oct 3 that year, he had asked her to come clean about her lie if the issue was brought up in the House the next day.
An Attorney-General’s Chambers spokesman had earlier said it would be seeking a fine for each of Singh’s charges if he is convicted, adding that this was based on the “evidence presently available and considering the totality of the circumstances”.
The Constitution states that a sitting MP will lose his seat if he is jailed for at least one year, or fined at least $10,000.
In 2022, the Constitution was amended to raise the fine quantum for disqualification from $2,000 to $10,000. This was to account for inflation and to correspond to sentences handed down by the courts in Singapore for relevant offences today, the Elections Department said then.
Ahead of the trial, Singh had made a bid in August to have his case transferred from the State Courts to the High Court, citing former transport minister S. Iswaran’s case, which was transferred on the grounds of strong public interest considerations.
The Aljunied GRC MP also argued that his case would “benefit from the stature of a High Court judge”, who would not be “swayed by the political atmospherics that surround this matter”.
The prosecution, represented by Deputy Attorney-General Ang Cheng Hock, objected to the application. Justice Hoo Sheau Peng dismissed the application on Sept 9, stating that the issue in Singh’s case was a straightforward factual one, of whether he had wilfully given false answers before the parliamentary committee.
Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan will preside over the trial, which is fixed for 16 days until Nov 13.
Singh’s lawyers are former prosecutor Andre Jumabhoy and Mr Aristotle Emmanuel Eng Zhen Yang, from Mr Jumabhoy’s law firm.
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Low Thia Khiang, 68, is the Workers’ Party (WP) former secretary-general. The prosecution has said he will testify in Singh's case.
The veteran politician served as party chief from 2001 to 2018, preceding Singh, who is the current WP chief.
Singh and WP chairwoman Sylvia Lim informed Mr Low in October 2021 that Ms Raeesah Khan had lied in Parliament. Mr Low said Ms Khan should clarify the lie in Parliament as soon as possible and apologise.
Ms Khan agreed to do so.
Mr Low has been with Singapore’s largest opposition party for more than 40 years, 29 of which were spent as an elected MP. - The New Straits Times/ANN
