09-07-2025
Singapore opposition leader Pritam Singh to appeal conviction, sentence for lying to Parliament on November 4
SINGAPORE, July 9 — The appeal hearing for Workers' Party chief Pritam Singh, who was convicted in February of two counts of lying under oath to a parliamentary committee, will take place on November 4 at 10am.
The Straits Times reported that lawyer Andre Jumabhoy confirmed the date in response to media queries.
After Singh was fined a total of S$14,000 (RM46,471) on February 17 following his trial, he said he would appeal against his conviction and sentence.
Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan ruled that Singh 'wilfully lied' to the Committee of Privileges about how he dealt with the falsehood told by former Workers' Party MP Raeesah Khan in Parliament on August 3, 2021.
Khan had lied about accompanying a sexual assault victim to a police station and repeated the false claim in Parliament on October 4, 2021.
Singh received the maximum fine of S$7,000 for each of the two charges.
The 13-day trial began on October 14, 2024, with Singh, Khan, former Workers' Party cadres Loh Pei Ying and Yudhishthra Nathan, and former party chief Low Thia Khiang taking the stand.
The defence sought to portray Khan as a habitual liar while the prosecution, led by then Deputy Attorney-General Ang Cheng Hock, argued that Singh tried to cover up his involvement in Khan's lie to Parliament.
Judge Tan said the court needed to 'send a message on the importance of giving truthful information under affirmation or oath.'
Singh retained his Aljunied GRC seat in the recent general election, where the Workers' Party team won 59.68 per cent of the votes against the People's Action Party's 40.32 per cent.
Following the election, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said Singh would remain Leader of the Opposition with staff and resources to support his duties.
