Singapore court upholds opposition leader’s conviction

Singapore opposition leader Pritam Singh has lost his appeal after being found guilty of lying to a parliamentary committee.

In February, Singh was fined S$14,000 ($10,800; £8,100) over two charges related to his party’s handling of former MP Raeesah Khan.

During a brief hearing in the court’s public gallery on Friday, the judge said Singh’s conviction was supported by the evidence presented.

Manmohan Singh, leader of the main opposition Workers’ Party, said he was “disappointed” by the decision but accepted it “completely and unreservedly”.

He paid the fine in court after a hearing on Friday. “Might as well get it done,” he told reporters.

Despite his conviction, Singh retained his parliamentary seat and said on Friday he would continue to serve the people of Singapore alongside his colleagues.

The Workers’ Party is the only opposition party in Singapore’s current parliament, occupying 12 of the 99 seats in the Singapore Parliament.

The saga began in 2021, when Khan claimed in parliament that she had witnessed police misconduct against victims of sexual assault.

She later admitted her anecdote was untrue, but said during a parliamentary committee inquiry that party leaders, including Singh, told her to “continue the narrative” even though she knew the lie.

Khan has since resigned from the party and parliament. She was fined S$35,000 for lying and abusing parliamentary privileges.

In February, the court ruled that Singh’s actions “strongly demonstrated” that he did not want Khan to clear up her lies.

But Singh, who has maintained his innocence throughout the trial, argued that he wanted to give Khan time to deal with the sensitive issue.

At Singh’s appeal hearing in November, his lawyers argued that the court “ignored key evidence” in its ruling.

Singh’s lawyers also sought to cast doubt on the credibility of Khan and his aides as witnesses.

When the judge asked Singh why “no action seemed to be taken” to get Khan to admit his guilt in the weeks after he was told he had lied to parliament, Singh’s lawyers said he had other pressing professional and personal matters to attend to.

However, prosecutors argued that Singer’s inaction and other evidence proved he never intended for Khan to confess.

Singh’s case is one of the only criminal convictions against a sitting opposition lawmaker.

Critics have previously accused the Singaporean government of using the judiciary to go after political opponents, a charge the authorities have always denied.