Committee recommends Pritam Singh be further investigated, Raeesah Khan fined S$35,000 over lies in Parliament

[SINGAPORE] A parliamentary committee has recommended that Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh be referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations and that former Workers' Party (WP) MP Raeesah Khan be fined a total of S$35,000 for their involvement in lies told by Khan in Parliament in August and October last year.

In a report released on Thursday (Feb 10) following a series of hearings held in December last year, Parliament's Committee of Privileges noted that Singh's referral was with a view to considering if criminal proceedings ought to be instituted regarding his conduct before the 8-member panel.

The committee is chaired by Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and comprises 6 other People's Action Party lawmakers and Hougang MP Dennis Tan from the WP.

The committee also recommended that Khan be fined S$25,000 for stating an untruth in Parliament on Aug 3, when she claimed to have accompanied a sexual assault victim to a police station where officers allegedly handled the matter insensitively and drove the victim to tears.

She repeated the untruth on Oct 4 - for which the committee is recommending an additional fine of S$10,000.

In November, Khan confessed in Parliament that she had in fact heard this anecdote in a support group she was part of, and had shared it without the victim's consent.

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Khan, 29, resigned as a WP member and MP for Sengkang GRC on Nov 30, a mere 15 months after being sworn in as Singapore's youngest MP after the 2020 general election.

The committee further recommended that WP vice-chair Faisal Manap, an MP for Aljunied GRC, be similarly referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations, namely into his refusal to answer "relevant" questions put forth by the committee, and to also consider if criminal proceedings ought to be instituted.

For Singh, who is WP chief and an MP for Aljunied GRC, the appropriate sanctions should be deferred until after the conclusion of investigations or criminal proceedings against him, said the committee.

The committee's recommendations are expected to be debated when Parliament sits next week. THE STRAITS TIMES