SINGAPORE: In response to the judge’s verdict on Monday (Feb 17) finding him guilty of two counts of lying to a parliamentary committee, Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh, together with his lawyers, has said that he will be appealing the verdict. He is also having his legal team look into the written judgment in closer detail.
Speaking to the media after leaving the court, he reiterated his intent to contest in the upcoming GE, saying, “I’m still standing in politics, let’s see what the election holds.”
When asked about the possibility of being asked to step down, he said, “The need of the hour is for me to step up, not step down.”
The judge imposed the maximum fine of $7,000 for each charge when he announced Mr Singh’s sentence after he took a three-hour break, having heard from both the prosecution and the defence.
Earlier on Monday (Feb 17), Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan said he accepted the account told by former WP MP Raeesah Khan over Mr Singh’s, whom he said had “willfully” told untruths to a Committee of Privileges (COP).
While the prosecution had sought the maximum fine of $7,000 for each charge, Mr Singh’s lawyer said that he should be fined no more than $4,000 for each. He argued that the WP chief had nothing to do with the initial lie from former WP MP Raeesah Khan, which led to the investigation from the COP, or “the fact that Ms Khan chose to tell the lie in the first place.”
When the judge returned to court at 3:20 pm, one of the first things he said was that jail term was not warranted in Pritam’s case, reported The Straits Times, adding that Ms Khan had not actually been harmed by Mr Singh’s actions.
Pritam Singh’s statement
Shortly after the sentencing, Mr Singh posted a media statement on his Facebook page, laying out his “side of the story,” the arguments that his lawyers, Andre Jumabhoy and Aristotle Eng, made to the Court.
His statement may be found in full in English and Mandarin here.
Among the facts laid out by Mr Singh’s legal team, they wrote that the WP chief had emphatically rejected the pleas from former party cadres Loh Pei Ying and Yudhishthra Nathan, “to cover up Raeesah’s lie with another one.”
“Mr Singh never hid the fact that it was Ms Khan’s duty to take responsibility and ownership of the issue and that it was her decision to continue to lie, a fact that he made clear to Ms Khan in a contemporaneous WhatsApp message on 23 Nov 2021, and from which she did not demur,” the lawyers added.
Mr Singh wrote toward the end of his statement, “In the test of who is telling the truth, actions speak louder than words.”
In answer to questions from the media, especially about the upcoming General Election, Mr Singh said that he will let the public decide and that he intends to contest in the election.
“We’ll see what happens… you can ask me again on Polling Day.”
As for whether the verdict would affect the perception of the WP, Mr Singh merely underlined what the party believes, which is that it is “the need of the hour in Singapore… is toward a more balanced political system.”
He also said the WP would continue to show resilience, and thanked his family members who have been an incredible source of support for him, including his wife, father, and in-laws.
He chose not to answer some questions about the trial and the judgment, as, after all, his lawyers are filing an appeal. /TISG
Read also: Judge: Pritam Singh is guilty of two counts of lying to parliamentary committee