Singapore opposition head, Pritam Singh, was found guilty of lying under an oath to a parliamentary committee.
The accusations against Singh relate to his management of Raeesah Khan, a former legislator of his party, who lied to Parliament in a separate case.
The verdict in this high -level trial comes when Singapore is preparing for its next general elections, which must be held by November. The Singh workers’ party holds nine of the 87 seats elected in Parliament.
In Singapore, any deputy can lose his seat or be forbidden to present themselves in the elections for five years if they are sentenced to a fine at least $ 10,000 ($ 7,440; £ 5,925) or imprisoned for more one year old.
The district judge Luke Tan, who returned the verdict on Monday in a crowded courtroom – broadcast live to more press members – said that several evidence showed that Singh “never wanted that Ms. Khan clarifies (her) lie “.
He also said that Singh had “direct and intimate involvement” in Khan’s guidance to continue his story.
Prosecutors are looking for a fine of $ 7,000 ($ 5,200; £ 4,200) for each of the two Singh charges.
Singh, 48, maintained his innocence throughout the trial, arguing that he wanted to give Khan time to face what was a sensitive problem.
The saga began in August 2021 when Khan told Parliament that she had witnessed police police against a victim of sexual assault. She later admitted that her anecdote was not true.
Khan was sentenced to a fine of $ 35,000 S ($ 26,000; £ 21,000) for lies and abused his parliamentary privilege. She has since resigned from the party and the parliament.
During an investigation by the parliamentary committee on the incident later that year, Khan said that party leaders, including Singh, told him to “continue the story” despite the fact that it was not true . It was before his possible admission.
Singh denied this, but also said that he had given Khan “too much time to settle before closing this problem with her”.
The parliamentary committee concluded that Singh was not honest and referred the case to the prosecutor.
Judge Tan said on Monday that Singh’s actions after learning Khan’s lie were “strongly indicative that the accused did not want Ms. Khan to clarify the lie at some point”.
The Singh workers’ party is the opposition party with the greatest presence in Parliament.
The party carried out important gains in the 2020 elections, increasing their number of seats from six to 10 – the largest victory for the opposition since Singapore obtained independence in 1965. Singh was appointed chief of the opposition after the ballot box.
One of these seats has since been canceled by Khan.
