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

Pritam Singh's lawyer has accused former Workers' Party MP Raeesah Khan of being a habitual liar during the party chief's ongoing trial at the State Courts.

In the cross-examination on Tuesday (Oct 15), defence lawyer Andre Jumabhoy had referred to Khan's anecdote in parliament on Aug 3, 2021, asking her: "You are in fact a liar, correct?"

Khan, 30, replied: "Yes, I've lied."

"You tell lies non-stop, don't you?" Jumabhoy continued.

When she denied this, he said that he was referring to the anecdote, the Committee of Privileges (COP) as well as the court proceedings that began on Monday.

Giving an example, Jumabhoy said Khan had claimed to have spoken with a 25-year-old victim of rape and accompanied her to a police station, where the victim later left crying.

She admitted that it was not true.

"So that’s a flat-out lie, isn't it?… you can’t be in any doubt that you’ve never accompanied anyone to the police station," he said.

When Singh sought more details on Khan's anecdote, she had replied with more lies such as the number of the person who put the victim in touch with her was not working anymore.

"You're adding more facts to support a lie... So it's a lie heaped upon a lie, and it’s going to be wrapped up in more lies, isn't it?" Jumabhoy asked.

He said that Khan had managed to lie four times within one message to Singh, which he considered "pretty impressive by any stretch of the imagination".

Furthermore, the lawyer highlighted that despite Khan's purported reverence for Singh, she had lied to him.

Khan clarified, saying "I was really scared at that point and I revered him so much that I was so scared of disappointing him, I just let it snowball".

When asked who else she had lied to when she delivered the anecdote, Khan said: "Because I made that speech in parliament, I lied to the whole country." 

Defence attempts to impeach Khan's credit as witness

In the hearing, the defence said that there are grounds to impeach Khan's credit as a witness, citing discrepancies within her testimony and evidence.

The credit of a witness may be impeached when the court agrees that former statements made by the witness are inconsistent with any part of his or her evidence which is liable to be contradicted. This can result in the witness being considered unreliable.

After requesting for Khan to leave the courtroom, Jumabhoy made an application for impeachment.

The lawyer pointed out an email sent by Singh to all WP MPs, warning them of the dangers of failing to back up claims in parliament, which would result in being called up by the COP.

She had said in court on Tuesday that she saw the email not as a nudge to clarify her untruths, but as a dig at her and a way to placate other WP MPs.

In an earlier statement to the police, however, Khan said that the email gave her a sense of fear over the possibility of her untruth resurfacing during the parliament sitting on Oct 4, 2021.

According to Jumabhoy, her testimony on Tuesday and to the police in the past were "materially different".

Prosecution shoots down testimony inconsistencies

Deputy Attorney-General Ang Cheng Hock quickly responded to Jumabhoy's attempt at impeachment.

Disputing the inconsistencies laid out by the defence in Khan's testimony, Ang said that Jumabhoy had not asked the right questions.

He said that if Jumabhoy had asked whether Khan felt fear from reading the email and she replied saying "No", then he would consider that to be grounds for impeachment.

"All this evidence of whether it was a dig and whether she felt fear, all this is not the main point," he said.

"One does not go through the whole impeachment procedure for something that is not really material."

Khan felt 'defeated and betrayed'

On Tuesday morning, Khan answered more questions from the prosecution.

She recalled how WP leaders Singh, Sylvia Lim and Faizal Manap had put together a disciplinary panel to speak with her on Nov 8, 2021.

Khan said she was surprised that the trio's comments on her personality and performance as an MP for Sengkang GRC, instead of the untruth that she had told in parliament.

Singh also pointed out that she was not "vocal enough" in meetings.

"My response to that was... I was the youngest one there by quite a few years, and it was the first time in that kind of environment," Khan said.

"I was freshly elected, I tried my best to learn from the people I looked up to."

She also admitted to having imposter syndrome, saying: "I think anybody at my age who had such a big responsibility would also feel like they don't belong or don't deserve it".

She did feel, however, that she had done her job well as an MP, adding that she had a really good relationship with Compassvale residents.

Khan requested for a second meeting with the disciplinary panel, and met the same party leaders on Nov 29, 2021.

The session left her feeling "defeated and betrayed", Khan said, adding that she felt that the trio had already decided that she had to resign.

On Nov 30, 2021, Khan resigned from WP as well as her position as MP.

"I had a call with Pritam… I told him that I thought it was best that I resigned," she said, adding that she was "very sad" to have done so.

"I really love the groundwork and meeting residents - that was the work I really enjoyed, because I felt like on the ground I really made a difference."

ALSO READ: 'I revered him', says Raeesah Khan: 5 things from day 1 of Pritam Singh's trial

khooyihang@asiaone.com