Pritam Singh's appeals against conviction and sentence for lying to parliamentary committee set for Nov 4 hearing
The Leader of the Opposition who heads the Workers' Party was fined S$14,000 (US$10,930) in February for lying to a parliamentary committee about getting former party member Raeesah Khan to come clean about a story she had told parliament.
This was the maximum of S$7,000 a charge for the two charges against him.
Singh said at the time that he would appeal against both his conviction and the sentence. He was represented by lawyer Andre Jumabhoy and his team.
Mr Jumabhoy's eponymous law firm confirmed the date with CNA on Wednesday. A spokesperson declined to mention if the team was seeking an acquittal or to specify the amount of the fine they would ask for in his case.
Singh was convicted after a trial that spanned about four months.
The judge had found that Singh "wilfully" lied and never wanted Ms Khan, then a member of parliament, to clarify the truth about her false anecdote about accompanying a sexual assault victim to a police station.
Singh was accused of giving false testimony to a Committee of Privileges on Dec 10 and Dec 15, 2021.
The judge accepted Ms Khan's account of what happened on Aug 8, 2021, when she met Singh and senior party leaders Sylvia Lim and Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap.
The prosecution had sought the maximum fine of S$7,000, while Mr Jumabhoy asked for S$4,000 for each charge.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Commentary: Prabowo wants a global role for Indonesia
SURABAYA, Indonesia: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto arrived at the BRICS Summit in Brazil this month, eager to showcase Indonesia's growing presence on the global stage. Instead, his BRICS debut was quickly overshadowed by his United States counterpart, Donald Trump, announcing that his administration would proceed with a 32 per cent general tariff on Indonesian goods entering the US, first announced in April. A day later, Mr Trump announced an additional 10 per cent would be slapped on all BRICS members, including Indonesia, its newest member. Although Mr Prabowo - who took on the top job just nine months ago - later managed to negotiate the tariff down to 19 per cent, describing it as the result of a ' tough negotiation ' during a phone call with Mr Trump, the episode cast a pall over his broader efforts to elevate Indonesia's foreign policy as a hallmark of his presidency. Indonesia's accession to BRICS in January marked a turn towards a more assertive foreign policy, a clear departure from Mr Prabowo's predecessor, Joko Widodo, who had prioritised domestic issues. Ahead of the BRICS summit, the Indonesian foreign ministry had described Mr Prabowo's intent as positioning Indonesia as a "bridge-builder" amid growing global uncertainties. BIG FISH IN A BIG POND Rather than anchoring Indonesia's foreign policy to ASEAN centrality as his predecessors did, Mr Prabowo, through BRICS and other efforts, is clearly seeking bigger ponds where Indonesia may become a significantly bigger fish. Just as Mr Widodo sought to be remembered for transforming Indonesia's physical infrastructure, Mr Prabowo appears keen on being remembered as a geopolitical heavyweight. His participation in the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in June, alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, was telling. At that forum, Mr Prabowo claimed Indonesia's BRICS accession process had been one of the fastest of all countries. He also explained his decision to attend the SPIEF instead of the G7 Summit in Canada to which he had been invited as a guest. "It is not because I didn't respect the G7, but because I gave my commitment to attend this forum before they invited us.' He added that Indonesia, by tradition, has always been non-aligned and that it "respect all countries'. A REALIST Mr Prabowo's interest in geopolitics is not new. As defence minister (from 2019 to 2024), he drew fire after pitching a controversial peace plan for the war between Russia and Ukraine at the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2023. His proposal included the creation of a demilitarised zone and an eventual United Nations-sponsored referendum in the 'disputed territories'. Ukraine's then foreign ministry spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko, rejected it outright, saying there were no disputed territories and that Russia's withdrawal from all the occupied territories was non-negotiable. That episode revealed Mr Prabowo's realist outlook and the priority he gives to hard power in international relations over international laws and conventions. That posture has continued into his presidency. During a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Jakarta in May, he declared: "We must acknowledge and guarantee Israel's rights as a sovereign country," adding a caveat that "Indonesia has stated that once Israel recognises Palestine, Indonesia is ready to recognise Israel". No previous Indonesian president has dared to offer an explicit promise to recognise the state of Israel, let alone throwing in some form of security guarantee. Yet, apart from his blunt language, Mr Prabowo had in fact barely shifted Indonesia's traditional stance vis-a-vis Israel. It has been a key element of its foreign policy to withhold diplomatic recognition and avoid ties with Tel Aviv as long as there is no independent Palestinian state. Now he has appeared to make, by the tone of his language at least, Palestine's independence a foreign policy priority. He has, moreover, signalled his willingness to work with Israel to achieve this objective, even if he has never elaborated how. In April, Mr Prabowo underlined his resolve to nudge along a resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict by offering to temporarily shelter 1,000 Palestinians impacted by the war in Gaza. If carried out, this will represent Indonesia's most concrete commitment to the Palestinian cause to date. Central to Mr Prabowo's approach is his ambition to usher in an age in which Indonesia 'will rise as a great country'. In this, he echoes Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, who had sought to bypass the two-bloc nature of the post-war world by drawing the non-aligned countries together as a third force. Mr Prabowo's real challenge remains how to balance Indonesia's role as a middle-ranking power amid global power rivalries. But what is becoming increasingly clear is that he will use all the influence at his disposal to raise Indonesia's prominence and stature and, by extension, the potential to make his own personal legacy more memorable than those of his predecessors.
CNA
7 hours ago
- CNA
Evacuees cautiously welcome Thai-Cambodia truce, brace for return to uncertainty
SURIN, THAILAND: Thai evacuees welcomed news of a ceasefire with Cambodia on Monday (Jul 28) with a mix of relief and scepticism, as the midnight truce loomed after five days of deadly cross-border fighting. 'I'd be so happy if the ceasefire really happens,' said Jeanjana Phaphan, a 48-year-old farmer who fled her home in Phanom Dong Rak district with her three-year-old son. 'If it's truly ending, I'm overjoyed, the happiest I've felt in a long time,' she said at a shelter in Surin city, about 50km from the border. Thailand and Cambodia agreed to an 'unconditional' ceasefire, following combat that killed at least 38 people and displaced nearly 300,000. The fighting erupted last Thursday along the jungle-clad frontier, a region long disputed and dotted with ancient temples. The agreement, brokered in Malaysia by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, came after mediation efforts by US President Donald Trump and Chinese negotiators. VOICES OF RELIEF AND DOUBT Jeanjana, like many others, reacted to the ceasefire news with cautious optimism. 'If our two countries keep fighting, the hardship and loss will only grow,' she said. 'People on that side are civilians too, just like us. On our side we're just farmers — and I believe they are farmers like us too. Ordinary people working to survive.' But not everyone was confident in the ceasefire's durability. 'I still have doubts that Cambodia will follow through with what they agreed to,' said Tee Samanjai, a 68-year-old farmer who had also evacuated. 'We may go home, but with unease. There's no peace of mind. I want to go back, but I don't trust Cambodia at all. No one in our village does.' For Tee, returning home means tending to life's basics. 'The first thing I'll do when I get home is check on the chickens, fertilise the rice, and take care of the fields,' he said. ACROSS THE BORDER In Cambodia, similar concerns echoed from villagers displaced by the conflict. At a temple shelter in Phumi Bak Thkav, 55-year-old farmer Say Yoeun said he longed to return home. 'I am not happy to stay somewhere like this,' he said. 'I miss my home and livestock — and I cannot take care of my paddy field.' Cambodian and Thai military commanders are scheduled to meet on Tuesday morning if the truce holds. Only then will villagers be allowed to return and assess the damage to their homes and farmland. 'A MINIMUM FIRST STEP' Kavindhra Tiamsai, a 33-year-old Thai who helped evacuate her mother from the conflict zone, said the fighting highlighted how people living in rural border areas are often neglected by their governments. 'A ceasefire is a good option but also the minimum,' she said. 'What we need is a comprehensive, grounded plan that speaks to the realities of rural life — one that doesn't assume evacuation is easy or even possible when most families have no transport, no money to buffer, and no safety net to lean on.'
CNA
9 hours ago
- CNA
Political analyst Edmund Tayao on Philippine President Marcos' state of nation address
At his fourth state of the nation address, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Junior unveiled new promises for the second half of his six-year term. Acknowledging a poor showing in recent mid-term elections, Mr Marcos said he intends to address inadequacies in every aspect of governance. He has promised more jobs and housing, wider healthcare coverage, support for students and farmers, as well as improvements to energy and water systems. Mr Edmund Tayao, CEO of Political Economic Elemental Researchers and Strategists (PEERS), discussed more about the details of Mr Marcos' speech.
