AGC urges public to avoid baseless claims against judiciary

WP chief attempted to distance himself from role in ex-MP's conduct, says judge

- Wong Pei Ting

Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh was convicted of two charges of lying under oath to a parliamentary committee.

Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan said the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, and fined Singh $14,000 in all - $7,000 for each charge.

The two charges had to do with lying to the Committee of Privileges (COP) about what transpired during meetings Singh had with former WP MP Raeesah Khan on Aug 8 and Oct 3 in 2021. The meetings had to do with an untruth that Ms Khan told in Parliament on Aug 3 that year.

Here are the key points from the judgment:

1. 'TAKE IT TO THE GRAVE' CLAIM WELL BACKED BY EVIDENCE Judge Tan said Ms Khan's account of what was said at the Aug 8 meeting - that Singh told her "this would probably be something that we would have to take to the grave" - was supported by circumstantial and corroborative evidence.

This included a text message she had sent to her close confidants former WP cadres Loh Pei Ying and Yudhishthra Nathan - right after the meeting, which stated that Singh and fellow WP leaders Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap "agreed that the best thing to do is to take the information to the grave".

In contrast, Singh's version was that he had told Ms Khan to speak to her parents about her experience with sexual assault first, and they would then return to the issue. He said he did so while they were leaving his house after the meeting, with no one else in earshot.

The judge said it made no sense that Singh would give this instruction only when he was alone with Ms Khan, seeing as he was the one who asked her to attend the meeting with the WP leaders, and specifically prompted her to share with them what she had told him on Aug 7 about the anecdote being false.

This was especially as there was nothing secret about this instruction - to speak to her parents first - and he had already asked Ms Khan at the meeting if her parents knew about the assault.