'It's so absurd, it didn't happen', says defence to Raeesah Khan: 5 things from day 3 of Pritam Singh's trial

The third day of Pritam Singh's trial has ended, with former Workers' Party (WP) Member of Parliament Raeesah Khan once again facing hours of cross-examination by Singh's legal team.

Khan answered more questions on Wednesday (Oct 16) about whether Singh had encouraged her to keep up with the lie she had made in parliament about a sexual assault case.

Singh, 48, has been charged with two counts under Section 31(q) of the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act.

The WP chief is accused of giving false answers to the Committee of Privileges (COP), which was convened in November 2021 to look into a controversy involving Khan.

Here are some highlights from the third day in court.

1. Defence challenges Khan's credibility

Today's hearing continued where Singh's lawyer, Andre Jumabhoy, had left off on Tuesday - attempting to impeach Khan's credit as a witness.

In an email sent by Singh to all WP MPs on Oct 1, 2021, he warned them of the dangers of failing to back up claims in parliament, which would result in them being called up by the COP.

Khan had told the court that she and Singh had not discussed this email during a meeting on Oct 3, 2021.

But in an earlier statement to the police, Khan said Singh had brought up the email during the meeting and said that "these people may want to bring it up again".

Jumabhoy then pressed Khan's claim of Pritam telling her during the meeting on Oct 3, 2021, that he would not judge her if she continued with her narrative of maintaining the lie.

"Would you agree that that's simply absurd? It's so absurd that in fact, it didn't happen," he said.

In response, Khan disagreed and reiterated that Singh had told her to "continue with the narrative".

Jumabhoy then replied that any reasonable person would question why Singh was giving her two contradicting messages.

In which Khan said she did not do so after the WP chief told her he would not judge her if she kept up her narrative.

2. Khan sent 'What should I do, Pritam?' message to Singh for assurance

On Oct 4, 2021, when Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam in parliament asked Khan to provide further details about her anecdote, the latter texted Singh to ask what she should do.

Jumabhoy said that if Singh had told her what to do the day before, there was "no reason" for her to send this message.

Khan responded: "I still wanted reassurance at the time and I wanted to make sure he still felt the same way as he did the night before.

"When you're in Parliament and you're being confronted by minister Shanmugam, I think anyone would question what their decision should be, or what they should say."

3. Why Khan did not confront WP leaders during disciplinary panel

Khan earlier testified in court that she felt "very defeated and betrayed" at the second session with the WP disciplinary panel on Nov 29, 2021.

She said that the panel, comprising of Singh, WP chair Sylvia Lim and vice-chair Faisal Manap, appeared to have used the panel to criticise her, and "almost pretend" that they were not guiding her before.

During the cross examination today, she agreed when Jumabhoy asked if she saw that Singh was putting the blame on her.

When asked why she did not mention to the party leaders that it had been their instruction to maintain the lie during the disciplinary panel, Khan said that she felt like it was "three versus one" at that time.

She added that the three WP leaders were "very powerful people", and it was hard to confront them in a negative way.

Jumabhoy then referenced Lim's notes during the meeting, which shows Khan agreeing when Singh asked: "Can't lie, right?"

Khan replied: "At that point in time, I still thought that they had the best intentions for me and I didn't realise that this was what they were doing.

"If I did realise, I would have said: "Look, I know that's a very tough situation but you also advised me the entire way. I would have said that if at that point in time… or if I knew they did not have the best intentions of me."

4. Defence files multiple impeachment applications

Khan left the courtroom twice today as Singh's lawyer made more applications for her impeachment as a witness.

Jumabhoy first said that Khan was contradicting herself by claiming that Singh's advice to her was to maintain her lie if she was not pressed.

He added that on the other hand, Singh had told her he would not judge her if she continued her narrative.

Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan replied that Khan's response is consistent with what she said Singh had told her earlier.

"I do not see a contradiction, let alone a material contradiction," he said.

Khan left the courtroom again four hours later after Jumabhoy argued that Khan's answers when asked if she considered admitting to the lie in September 2021 are contradictory.

It is also inconsistent with her argument that she was told by WP's leaders to continue the narrative, he said.

The prosecution and defence then agreed to allow Khan to refer to her police statement from June 5, 2022, to refresh her memory.

5. Khan's former assistant to testify tomorrow

At the start of the trial, Singh's lawyer said he expects that Khan's cross examination would last two days.

But Khan will take to the stands on the fourth day after several back-and-forth with the prosecution in the bid to impeach her as a witness.

Deputy Attorney-General Ang Cheng Hock has said that they will be calling former WP member, Loh Pei Ying, as their next witness on Thursday (Oct 17).

Loh, a former secretarial assistant to Khan, was among the earliest to know about the lie made in parliament.

In her nearly four-hour testimony to the COP in 2021, Loh had believed that the WP leaders would handle the situation.

She said then that she was disappointed Singh had left it to Khan on whether she should tell the truth if asked about the false sexual assault anecdote in parliament.

Loh resigned from WP in November 2022. She was reportedly part of the WP cadre, an inner circle with the power to elect the party's leaders.

ALSO READ: 'You are in fact a liar': Defence grills Raeesah Khan in Pritam Singh trial

chingshijie@asiaone.com