The city state’s High Court upheld the conviction of opposition leader Pritam Singh (pic) for lying to a parliamentary committee while helping cover up a false account by a fellow party member.
Pritam, 49, secretary-general of the Workers’ Party, had appealed a February district court ruling that found him guilty of two counts of lying to the committee investigating Raeesah Khan, then a rookie MP.
Raeesah had admitted to fabricating a story she told in the legislature about accompanying a rape victim to file a police report.
The district court had ruled that, contrary to what Pritam told the committee, he had not done enough to get Raeesah to admit to her lie in parliament.
Pritam was fined S$7,000 (RM22,200) for each charge – narrowly avoiding disqualification from May’s elections, in which he retained his seat.
The People’s Action Party won 87 of 97 seats, extending its six-decade rule, while the Workers’ Party kept 10.
Under the constitution, a person fined a minimum of S$10,000 (RM31,800) per charge or jailed for at least one year, is disqualified from running for election or holding a parliamentary seat for five years.
“The appellant’s conviction on both charges is accordingly sound and his appeal is dismissed,” High Court judge Steven Chong said in his ruling yesterday.
Chong said that Workers’ Party leaders, including Pritam, “essentially were engaged in an exercise of risk assessment and/or damage control” rather than asking Raeesah to quickly admit she had told a lie.
Pritam said while he was “disappointed” with the decision, he respected and accepted it. — AFP
