News
Pritam Singh is back in court on Feb. 17 for his verdict. Here’s a recap of what went down in the 13-day trial.
A recap from August 2021 to November 2024.
February 16, 2025, 12:01 PM
After 13 days in court between Oct. 14 and Nov. 8, 2024, Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh will be back in court on Monday (Feb. 17).
Singh was on trial for two counts of lying to Parliament regarding former Workers’ Party (WP) Member of Parliament (MP) Raeesah Khan’s false anecdote.
At the end of the trial on Nov. 8, 2024, proceedings were adjourned till 9:30am on Feb. 17, 2025.
So, for those who need a refresher, here is a quick recap of what went down in court.
Jog your memory
First up, here’s a recap of what happened from Aug. 3, 2021 up to the trial, condensed in 1,400 words:
Trial Day 1 — Oct. 14, 2024
On the first day of the trial, the prosecution in its opening statement said that Singh had lied to the Committee of Privileges (COP) about what he wanted Raeesah to do regarding the untruth when he discussed the matter with her on Aug. 8, 2021.
The prosecution also said Singh had lied to the COP and argued that there was no way Singh intended for the untruth to be clarified in parliament on Oct. 4, 2021, given that there were no preparatory steps taken.
They highlighted that there was no clarificatory statement prepared for or by Raeesah.
Raeesah then took the witness stand to kick things off.
The trial was attended by members of the public, as well as WP MPs.
Mothership’s coverage
Prosecution opens, Raeesah testifies: Here’s what went down on Day 1 of Pritam Singh’s trial
Pritam Singh 'intentionally guided' Raeesah to maintain lie in parliament: Prosecution
Trial Day 2 — Oct. 15, 2024
On the second day of the trial, Singh’s defence lawyers grilled Raeesah on her testimony, during their cross-examination.
The defence picked apart Raeesah’s untruths in her Aug. 3, 2021 anecdote said in parliament, as well as her statement to the Committee of Privileges (COP) in late 2021, where she claimed she did not understand what Singh meant when he told her to substantiate the anecdote in her speech.
The day ended with the defence wanting to impeach Raeesah as a witness.
Mothership’s coverage
Pritam Singh's defence lawyer grills Raeesah Khan in Day 2 of trial
Pritam's trial Day 2: Raeesah questioned, defence seeks to impeach her
Trial Day 3 — Oct. 16, 2024
Following the defence’s call to impeach Raeesah, Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan said he was inclined to agree with the prosecution's position that there are no "serious discrepancies" in Raeesah’s testimony which meet the legal threshold for her impeachment as a witness.
The defence continued its cross-examination of Raeesah, turning the subject to her former aides Loh Pei Ying and Yudhishthra Nathan, who were Raeesah's secretarial assistant and a WP volunteer, respectively.
Mothership’s coverage
Trial Day 4 — Oct. 17, 2024
On the fourth day of the trial, Loh Pei Ying took the stand after Raeesah’s re-examination.
Loh testified that Raeesah disclosed the untruth to herself and Nathan on a Zoom call on Aug. 7, 2021.
She said she felt relieved when she discovered that Singh was made aware of the lie, and said, "It's a big deal or a stain, I would say, on WP's history or track record, for a Member of Parliament to have lied about something like this."
Loh also testified about a meeting she and Nathan had with Singh where she encouraged Singh to affirm Raeesah’s experience and not distrust her experience as a sexual assault victim.
During her cross-examination, Singh’s defence team brought up messages between Loh and Raeesah, pressing Loh for details surrounding the messages, and on redactions Loh had made before submitting the evidence to the COP.
Loh then admitted to lying about the reason she redacted information in a document submitted to the COP in 2021.
Mothership’s coverage
Loh Pei Ying admits to lying about redaction of chat messages given to COP: Day 4 of Pritam’s trial
Trial Day 5 — Oct. 18, 2024
On the fifth day of the trial, the defence continued questioning Loh, who fielded questions about Singh’s alleged knowledge of Raeesah’s untruth.
Loh was asked if she called Raeesah “naive and stupid”, as reflected in notes taken during the WP disciplinary panel on Nov. 25, 2021.
Loh could not remember if she called Raeesah “stupid,” but she confirmed using the word “naive.”
Loh apparently also used the term "lao hong biscuit" in her description of Raeesah to the panel, and defence lawyer Andre Jumabhoy asked what she meant by that.
"Would you call a lao hong biscuit a weak biscuit? That's [the way] the usual term 'lao hong' is used. It's just not a crispy biscuit," she said.
"In Singapore, lao hong sometimes means it's soft."
She clarified that she meant Raeesah was "susceptible to criticism" and could "buckle quite easily under pressure".
Nathan also took the witness stand to testify for the prosecution on Oct. 18.
Nathan admitted to submitting redacted messages to the COP, stating that he was left alone to do so and no one approved the redactions.
He testified that Raeesah’s personal statement delivered in Parliament on Nov. 1 could not have been prepared in one day.
Mothership’s coverage
Trial Day 6 — Oct. 21, 2024
The defence grilled Nathan about a message sent on Oct. 12, 2021, that was redacted from the documents submitted to the COP.
Nathan admitted to ignoring instructions from parliament, as the COP had explicitly warned Loh and Nathan not to discuss their evidence.
The defence asked Nathan if he had discussed with Loh which messages to redact when submitting to the COP over the phone, to which Nathan said, "Yes."
Former WP Chief Low Thia Khiang, called as a witness for the prosecution, also arrived at the State Courts on Oct. 21 but did not testify that day due to the prosecution and defence arguing over redacted messages and whether they should be submitted as evidence in court.
Mothership’s coverage
Low Thia Khiang arrives at State Courts to testify at Pritam's trial
Trial Day. 7 — Oct. 22, 2024
On Day 7, the trial was adjourned briefly till Oct. 23, 2:30pm, as one of Singh’s defence lawyers, Andre Jumabhoy, was “unwell”.
He had been given a medical certificate stating that he was unfit for court for two days.
Mothership’s coverage
Defence lawyer Andre Jumabhoy 'unwell', Pritam Singh's trial adjourned to Oct. 23
Trial Day 8 — Oct. 23, 2024
Nathan took the witness stand for a final time, during which the defence questioned him in further detail about the meeting he had with Loh on Oct. 12, 2021, and his understanding of Singh, who said he “would not judge” Raeesah.
Low also took the stand to testify for a total of 35 minutes. He was only asked one question by the defence.
The prosecution asked Low when he found out that Singh, Lim and WP vice-chair Faisal Manap already knew about Raeesah's untruth since August 2021.
Low replied that he found out sometime in August 2023, and said, "I was wondering, why take so long to reveal this?"
While speaking to the media outside the State Courts, Low admitted in Mandarin that he was "a little surprised" to be asked only one question.
Mothership’s coverage
Low Thia Khiang testifies for total of 35 minutes at Pritam’s trial, defence asks just 1 question
Trial Day 9 — Oct. 24, 2024
The last prosecution witness, a police investigation officer, did not take the stand.
In addition, the defence made a submission of “no case to answer” for the first charge.
Such a submission can be made in a criminal trial where the defence thinks there is insufficient evidence to support the prosecution's case, according to the Singapore Judiciary website.
Mothership’s coverage
Trial Day 10 — Nov. 5, 2024
Singh was called upon to present his defence, and took the stand on Nov. 5, opting to testify.
He recounted reviewing a draft of Raeesah’s speech which contained the false anecdote and how he circled the anecdote and wrote “substantiate”.
He also recounted his conversations with Raeesah Khan following the lie in parliament and said he wanted her to deal with the matter “when she was ready”, as she’d wanted to speak to her parents first.
Singh also explained what he meant when he said he would not “judge” Raeesah, and addressed points raised by Loh and Nathan about whether Raeesah needed to make preparations for clarifying her lie.
The defence indicated that it did not intend to call other witnesses at that stage.
Mothership’s coverage
Defence called, Pritam takes the stand: Here’s what went down on Day 10 of the trial
Trial Day 11 — Nov. 6, 2024
The prosecution began its cross-examination of Singh.
The prosecution focused on Singh's statements at the COP and his testimony in court during the trial, highlighting inconsistencies.
The prosecution further grilled Singh on his follow-up actions after Raeesah’s untruth in Parliament on Aug. 3, 2021, and the second time she lied in Parliament on Oct. 4, 2021.
The prosecution particularly probed Singh on why he did not "tell off" Raeesah after the second lie if his position was to get Raeesah to confess the truth on Oct. 4, especially considering his position as the party's secretary-general.
Mothership’s coverage
Trial Day 12 — Nov. 7, 2024
Singh’s cross-examination by the prosecution continued as the two clashed over what Singh meant when he said the phrase “I won’t judge you”.
The prosecution also argued that there was a conflict of interest when Singh, Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap sat on Raeesah’s disciplinary panel.
Singh rebutted that he did not feel he was in “a position of conflict”.
Mothership’s coverage
Prosecution says Pritam guided Raeesah to lie, Pritam says he was taking ‘sensitive’ approach
Trial Day 13 — Nov. 8, 2024
On the 13th day of the trial, Singh took the stand once more to defend his handling of the lie told by Raeesah.
The trial was originally slated to run for 16 days, till Nov. 13.
The prosecution wrapped up their cross-examination of Singh by lunch.
Defence lawyer Andre Jumabhoy completed a short re-examination of Singh after lunch.
The defence did not call any other witnesses.
Both parties had until Jan. 13, 2025, to file their closing submissions and until Jan. 31, 2025, to file their replies.
Court was adjourned till 9:30am on Feb. 17, 2025.
What can we expect next?
Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan is expected to give his verdict on Singh’s case after reviewing the closing submissions and replies.
If found guilty, Singh could be fined up to S$7,000 for each of the two charges, imprisoned for up to three years, or both.
If he's convicted and the judge agrees with the prosecution's position that the appropriate punishment is a fine, Singh should still be able to continue working as an MP.
On May. 9, 2022, the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Bill was passed in parliament, revising the fine quantum for disqualification from "not less than S$2,000" to "not less than S$10,000."
This means that Singh will not be disqualified as an MP unless he is convicted and fined S$10,000 or more, or sentenced to jail for a term of not less than one year.
Will Singh be fined not less than S$10,000 or jailed for not less than one year?
The prosecution said it would make the case for the maximum fine of S$7,000 for each charge, and that it would not be pressing for a custodial sentence.
A fine of S$7,000 for each of the two charges — assuming Singh is convicted on both — would indeed exceed S$10,000.
However, Singapore Management University law professor Eugene Tan previously told Mothership he thought there was “no real risk” of Singh losing his MP seat, saying:
"Assuming that Singh is found guilty by the court and the court imposes only maximum fines, Singh will not be disqualified from Parliament. There is no basis in the Constitution to treat the two set of fines cumulatively. In my view, Singh is under no real risk of losing his parliamentary seat."
But Tan noted that "the court may disagree that a custodial sentence is not required and/or the proposition that the maximum fine be imposed for each of the two charges".
Will there be an appeal?
If Singh wishes to appeal against the decision made by the court, he must file the appeal within 14 days after the date of judgment, sentencing, or order.
Related story
Top photo by Mothership
