Singapore Court Upholds Pritam Singh Conviction

Singapore's High Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of Pritam Singh, leader of the opposition Workers' Party, for lying to a parliamentary committee in connection with a scandal involving a former party lawmaker. The decision, delivered by Justice Steven Chong, affirmed Singh's February conviction on two counts of giving false testimony under oath, resulting in fines totaling S$14,000.

The case stemmed from events in 2021, when Raeesah Khan, then a Workers' Party member of Parliament, falsely claimed in an August 3 speech that she had accompanied a sexual assault victim to a police station, where officers allegedly mishandled the case. Khan repeated the fabricated anecdote in Parliament on October 4. Eight days earlier, on August 7, she had confided in Singh that the story was untrue. During a subsequent party meeting on August 8 attended by Singh, Khan, and fellow Workers' Party members Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap, Singh told Khan to "take the untruth to the grave," according to evidence accepted by the court. On October 3, in a private conversation at Khan's home, Singh said, "I will not judge you," which the court interpreted as reassurance for her to maintain the lie...