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SINGAPORE – The President of the Workers’ Party (WP), Sylvia Lim, tabled a motion to adjourn in Parliament for its next session in October, following the controversial case involving Indonesian domestic worker Parti Liyani and the family of the prominent business leader Liew Mun Leong.
The motion, tabled by the Aljunied Member of Parliament (MP) on Monday, is titled “Justice for All: Improving Fairness in the Criminal Justice System,” according to WP’s Facebook post on Wednesday (September 16) . It will refer to the “deeper issues” raised by the Parti case.
“The intention is to discuss aspects of the criminal justice system and the challenges faced by people with fewer resources to navigate it. Specific suggestions will be made to improve the system, ”said the WP.
Parti, 46, who had worked for Liew’s family for nearly a decade, was recently cleared of theft. Previously, she was convicted in March 2019 and sentenced to 26 months in jail in state courts for stealing items worth more than $ 34,000 from the home of the former president of the Changi Airport Group (CAG).
In his ruling in early September, Judge Chan Seng Onn found that the Liew family may have had an “inappropriate motive” for filing a police report against Parti. He also highlighted flaws in police procedures, such as a break in the chain of custody, while questioning the credibility of Karl Liew, the son of Liew Mun Leong, as a prosecution witness.
The case caused a public uproar, with some alleging that the Liews had received special treatment thanks to their privileged social status. The Minister of Law and Interior, K Shanmugam, has promised that the government will review the deficiencies that led to Parti’s criminal prosecution.
The Attorney General’s Office (AGC) will also study Judge Chan’s trial, noting that his findings “raise questions that justify further investigations.”
Last Thursday, Liew resigned from his commercial and public service roles at CAG, Surbana Jurong, Temasek Foundation and Temasek International with immediate effect. Liew said the police report against Parti was made with the genuine conviction that “if there are suspicions of wrongdoing, it is our civic duty to report the matter to the police and let the authorities investigate accordingly.”
A motion for adjournment involves a deputy claiming the right to raise additional matters of public interest after a call is raised to end a parliamentary session.
This right to raise issues is assigned to one deputy per session. If there is more than one deputy claiming the right, the motion will be decided by vote.
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