Singapore, Oct 14 (PTI) The trial of Singapore’s Indian-origin Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh began on Monday on two charges for lying in Parliament when being questioned over a former colleague.
Singh’s former Workers’ Party (WP) colleague Raeesah Khan had lied in Parliament twice in 2021 about accompanying a rape victim to a police station, where a police officer allegedly made comments about the woman’s attire and consumption of alcohol.
Singh, a 48-year-old father of two, is accused of lying twice before the Committee of Privileges (COP), which was convened to investigate Khan’s conduct, on December 10 and December 15, 2021.
Singh is accused of lying that at the conclusion of his meeting with Khan and WP members Sylvia Lim and Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap on August 8, 2021, he wanted Khan to clarify at some point in Parliament that what she had said about accompanying a rape victim to a police station was untrue.
Another alleged lie is that when Singh spoke to Khan on October 3, 2021, he wanted to convey to her that if the issue came up in Parliament the next day, she had to clarify that her story about accompanying the rape victim was a lie.
The team of prosecutors, led by former High Court justice and current Deputy Attorney-General Ang Cheng Hock, charged that Singh had given false testimony before the COP in order to downplay his responsibility in the matter of Khan’s lie, The Channel News Asia reported.
Singh had first discovered that her anecdote about accompanying the rape victim was untrue in a phone call with Khan on August 7, 2021.
A day later, Singh met with Khan, Lim and Faisal Manap at his home. They first discussed the fallout from Khan’s speech on Muslim issues including polygamy and female genital cutting, before moving to the issue of Khan’s lie.
The prosecution said it was clear to Khan from the meeting that her party leaders did not want her to clarify the untruth, and that she should leave the matter be.
Khan did not attend parliamentary sittings in September as she was down with shingles.
The deputy attorney-general charged that Singh had guided Khan during another meeting on October 3, 2021, to maintain the lie if the matter was raised in Parliament the next day.
The trial is set to go on for the rest of the week until next Thursday before Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan.
Singh, a trained lawyer and experienced politician, was charged on March 19, 2024.
Before trial proceedings began proper, Singh’s charges were read to him again and the WP chief reiterated his earlier not guilty plea before a courtroom with almost 40 people in the gallery.
As the opening statement was being delivered, Singh was sitting a row behind his lawyers, with his father Amarjit Singh, a former Singapore district judge, seated beside him.
Singh is contesting two charges under the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act, which makes it an offence to lie in response to questions posed by Parliament or its committee.
If convicted, he could be fined up to SGD 7,000, jailed for up to three years, or both, on each charge.
If he is fined at least SGD 10,000, he could lose his seat as an MP and be disqualified from standing in elections for five years. PTI GS GSP GSP
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