SINGAPORE: Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh took the podium for the first time on Tuesday (November 5) to open the defense case in a trial that followed Ms Raeesah Khan’s lie in parliament.

He is challenging two charges of lying to the Privileges Committee about what his former member of parliament (MP) wanted to do about her own lie.

Ms Khan lied to parliament on 3 August 2021 about accompanying a rape victim to a police station where the victim was asked questions about her clothing and alcohol consumption.

The COP, which looks into any complaint of breach of parliamentary privilege, was summoned to look into her lie, and Singh was subsequently charged with lying to the COP.

Until now, Ms Khan and her two former assistants, long-time WP members Loh Pei Ying and Yudhishthra Nathanwere generally aligned in their reading of how Singh had asked Ms Khan to maintain her false narrative and that he would not judge her if she did so.

On Tuesday, Singh took the stand for the first time to say the story in his own words.

Here are key quotes from his testimony.

1. On how he felt when he was informed by an aide that Ms Khan was crying in the office of the Leader of the Opposition (LO) after being questioned about her rape anecdote on 3 August 2021

“I was informed by one of my legislative assistants that she was in the LO office and was crying there. I didn’t really understand what this was about, so I leave the room, go to my office, and basically instruct Raeesah to just clarify, give the Minister of State the details he’s asking for, but she says she can’t contact that person”.

2. As to what he understood by asking Ms Khan if it would “help” if someone else came forward with their experience of sexual assault

“Seems like she didn’t want to deal with the anecdote… She says it would help if someone came forward with their experience, I say back… I say no, Raeesah, this episode was highlighted, must resolve the issue as a responsible MP should.”

3. Why did he text Ms Khan for more details a day after she shared her rape anecdote in parliament

“At the session in parliament on (August 3, 2021), there were some clarifications asked of Raeesah by the Minister of State (MOS) and in my opinion her answers were…defensive to me and I felt there was more to that, and besides, I think the questions posed by MOS haven’t been answered yet, so I was curious (to) find out what the truth behind her anecdote is.”

4. About how Mrs. Khan first told him her anecdote was a lie

“As I recall, she asked to call me and (she) called me and said she was unable to contact the person.

“And … if I remember correctly, I kept asking her for more details, and then at one point she asks me if there is such a confidentiality, and I say – look, I’m the secretary general of party, I want to know if this happened or not and she suddenly told me no it didn’t happen… I was very unhappy with her, I was actually very angry and I hung up and told her that we’ll talk about it.”

5. Why he was pretty sure the matter would be pursued by the government

“Given what Minister of State Desmond Tan said, he made it clear that they wanted to go ahead, saying it would not be set aside.

“The other thing, of course, is that they know how the PAP works and whenever there’s a chance to fix an opposition MP or be tough on the opposition, they would take that chance.”

6. On whether he asked Ms Khan to continue the false narrative or to take the lie to the grave or whether he stated that religious conservatives would not accept an MP who had been raped:

“No, I didn’t.”

7. What did he mean when he told Ms. Khan on October 3, 2021, that he would be back in parliament the next day and the anecdote might come out and she would have to take responsibility and accountability on the matter.

“In the context of someone who lied to me, lied to parliament and tried to cover up the lie during my attempt to find out more about her, in my opinion those words were clear that she had to be telling the truth, and that’s what I meant by ownership and responsibility… The lie was told by Raeesah and it was her job to clear up the lie in parliament… All MPs… should, must, be held to a certain standard and I think the fact that the MP our lied was unacceptable and he had to correct that.”

8. Why He Followed Up With “I Won’t Judge You”

“When I told her ownership and responsibility, she started to look a little nervous and uncomfortable and I kept telling her I won’t judge you and what I meant by that was I won’t judge you if you take ownership. and responsibility.”

9. At his meeting with Ms Loh Pei Ying and Mr Yudhishthra Nathan on 12 October 2021

“They didn’t seem keen on Raeesah admitting the truth of what she had said on August 3, and Yudhish in particular was suggesting that she continue with her lie… and that was very strange to me because of the point they had reached. already arrived at.

“I rejected that and said – look, she should come clean and make a personal statement. They weren’t so convinced and I willingly told them that I had spoken to Mr Low (Thia Khiang) and we all agreed that a personal statement should be made’.