WP chief Pritam Singh charged with two counts of lying to parliamentary committee; pleads not guilty

SINGAPORE — Workers’ Party (WP) secretary-general Pritam Singh was on Tuesday (March 19) handed two charges of giving false answers to a parliamentary committee.

This comes over two years after the Parliament’s Committee of Privileges found that the opposition party leader had been untruthful under oath during its hearings into former WP member Raeesah Khan over lies she told in the House in 2021.

Separately, the police and the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) said in a joint statement on Tuesday said that WP vice-chair Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap, who was under investigation for refusing to answer relevant questions that had been put to him by the committee, will not be charged.

Mr Faisal has instead been issued an advisory, which he has acknowledged, the police and AGC said.

The advisory reminded him to familiarise himself with the conduct expected of Members of Parliament under the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act and to refrain from any act that may be in breach of it.

Singh, 47, who appeared in court without a lawyer, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday and intends to contest the charges.

He requested a four-week adjournment for his case to engage a lawyer.

His case will be next heard on April 17 for a pre-trial conference.

In response to media queries, AGC said that the prosecution will be asking the court to impose a fine for each of his two charges if he is convicted "based on the evidence presently available and considering the totality of the circumstances".

Singh has already been informed of the prosecution's position.

"It will be for the Court to decide whether Mr Pritam Singh is guilty of the charges. If he is found guilty, it is for the Court to decide what the appropriate punishment should be," AGC added. 

CASE BACKGROUND

Singh, who is Leader of the Opposition and Member of Parliament (MP) for Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC), has been under investigationby the authorities for more than two years, after Parliament voted in February 2022 to refer his conduct and that of Mr Faisal to the Public Prosecutor, or the Attorney-General, for further probe.

Both Singh and Mr Faisal were among the witnesses who had testified under oath before the Committee of Privileges, which was convened in 2021 to investigate Ms Khan over lies she told the House that year.

The committee was chaired by then Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and was composed of seven other members, including WP MP for Hougang Single Member Constituency Dennis Tan.

Speaking during a parliamentary sitting, Ms Khan claimed that she accompanied a sexual assault victim to a police station where the victim was treated insensitively, but this was later found to be untrue.

She has since resigned from the party, vacated her MP seat in Sengkang GRC, and was fined S$35,000 for her lies and abusing her parliamentary privilege.

Following the hearings, the committee also found that Singh, Mr Faisal and WP chairman Sylvia Lim were untruthful in their evidence while under oath.

It also found that Mr Faisal had refused to answer the committee’s questions, which the committee said may amount to contempt of Parliament.

After the hearings concluded in February 2022, Parliament voted for Singh and Mr Faisal to be referred to the Attorney-General, accepting the committee's 1,180-page report, which stated that the duo might have lied under oath during its investigations, among other things.

The committee did not recommend any action towards Ms Lim because she had assisted the committee voluntarily.

The Attorney-General later referred the conduct of Mr Singh and Mr Faisal to the police in April 2022. 

In February last year, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam gave an update in Parliament that the police were still investigating the case.

In the joint statement, the police and the AGC said that police investigations into both Singh and Mr Faisal have concluded.

Having considered "the totality of the evidence", the prosecution has decided to prefer two charges against Singh and not press any charges against Mr Faisal, said the statement.

They added that the police, in consultation with the AGC issued an advisory to Mr Faisal on March 18 to "advise him to familiarise himself with the conduct expected of Members of Parliament under the Act and to refrain from any act that may be in breach of it".

"Mr Faisal Manap has acknowledged the advisory," the statement said. 

Singh has previously written in a Facebook post in 2022 on the day the committee report was released that there were a "number of unknowns" with regard to how the case would pan out, including the time taken for the legal process, as well as the prospect of both Mr Faisal andhimself losing their parliamentary seats if either are fined S$2,000 or more.

Singh was referring to Singapore's Constitution, which at the time stated that MPs who are convicted and fined for an offence may lose their seats if the fine amount is at least S$2,000.

The disqualification threshold has since been raised to at least S$10,000, following amendments to the Constitution passed unanimously by Parliament in May 2022. MPs may also be disqualified if they are sentenced to a jail term of one year or more.

If found guilty, Singh could be fined up to S$7,000 or jailed for up to three years, or both, for each charge.