SINGAPORE: Pritam Singh’s appeals against his conviction and sentence for lying to parliament have been set for a Nov 4 hearing this year.
The Leader of the Opposition who heads the Workers’ Party was handed a fine of S$14,000 (US$10,930) in February for lying to a parliamentary committee about getting former party member Raeesah Khan to come clean about a story she had told parliament.
This was the maximum fine of S$7,000 a charge for the two charges against him.
Singh said at the time that he would appeal against both his conviction and the sentence. He was represented by lawyer Andre Jumabhoy and his team.
Mr Jumabhoy’s eponymous law firm confirmed the date with CNA on Wednesday. A spokesperson declined to mention if the team was seeking an acquittal or to specify the amount of the fine they would ask for in his case.
Singh was convicted after a trial that spanned about four months.
The judge had found that Singh “wilfully” lied and never wanted Ms Khan, then a member of parliament, to clarify the truth about her false anecdote about accompanying a sexual assault victim to a police station.
Singh was accused of giving false testimony to a Committee of Privileges on Dec 10 and Dec 15, 2021.
The judge accepted Ms Khan’s account of what happened on Aug 8, 2021, when she met Singh and senior party leaders Sylvia Lim and Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap.
The prosecution had sought the maximum fine of S$7,000, while Mr Jumabhoy asked for S$4,000 for each charge.
The penalties for the charges Singh faced are a jail term of up to three years or a fine of up to S$7,000, or both for each charge.
