Unhappiness over Raeesah’s lie, what she meant when she said ‘I won’t judge you’: Important quotes from Pritam Singh

SINGAPORE: Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh appeared on the podium for the first time A hearing was held on Tuesday, November 5, to present the defense’s case in the hearing following Raeesah Khan’s lie in parliament.

He is contesting two charges that he lied to the Privileges Committee about what the former MP (MP) wanted him to do about his own lie.

Ms Khan lied in parliament on 3 August 2021 about accompanying a rape victim to a police station; Here, the victim was asked questions about his clothing and alcohol consumption.

The COP, which examines any complaints about breaches of parliamentary privilege, met to investigate his lie, and Singh was subsequently charged with lying to the COP.

So far Ms Khan and her two former assistants, both long-time WP members Loh Pei Ying And Yudhishthra NathanTheir reading of how Singh asked Ms Khan to maintain her false narrative and that she would not judge him if she did so was generally in agreement.

On Tuesday, Singh took to the podium for the first time and said: story in his own words.

Here are key quotes from his testimony.

1. An assistant described how he felt when he learned that Ms Khan was crying in the Leader of the Opposition (LO) office after being questioned about the rape anecdote on August 3, 2021

“One of my legislative assistants informed me that she was in the LO office and was there crying. I don’t quite understand what this is about, so I leave the room, go to my office and instruct Raeesah to do just that. Explain, give the Secretary of State the details she wants, but He said he couldn’t contact that person.”

2. What Ms. Khan understood when asked if it would “help” if someone else told her about their sexual assault experience

“Apparently he doesn’t want to bother with anecdote… He asks if it would be helpful if someone tells about his experiences, and I reply… I say no Raeesah, this section has been underlined, we have to do it. Solve the problem like a responsible MP should.”

3. He explained why he asked Ms Khan for more details via text message, a day after she shared her rape anecdote in parliament

“At the sitting of Parliament on 3 August 2021, Raeesah was asked by the Minister of State (MOS) for some clarifications and her answers, in my opinion… were defensive for me and I felt there was more to it. In addition I think the questions asked by the MOS have not yet been answered, which So I wondered what the truth was behind his anecdote.”

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

“As far as I remember, he wanted to call me, called me and shared with me that he had not been successful in contacting this person.

“And… if I remember correctly, I kept asking him for more details, and at one point he asked me if there was such a thing as secrecy, and I told him – look, I’m the secretary-general of the UN.” party, I want to know if this is happening and he suddenly tells me no it is not… I was very unhappy with him, actually very upset and I cut the call and told him we would talk. talk about it.”

5. Why he is so confident that the matter will be pursued by the government

“Considering what Minister of State Desmond Tan said, he said that the issue will not be left aside and clearly stated that they want to follow up on the issue.

“The other thing is that I know how the PAP works and whenever there is a chance to correct an opposition MP or get tough on the opposition, they jump at the chance.”

6. On whether he asked Ms Khan to continue the false narrative or take the lie to the grave, or whether he stated that conservative clerics would not accept an MP being raped:

“No, I didn’t.”

7. On 3 October 2021, he told Ms Khan what he meant when he said he would return to parliament the next day and that the anecdote might come up and he should take ownership and responsibility of the matter.

“In the context of a person who lied to me, lied to parliament, and tried to cover up the lie while I was trying to find out more about it, in my view those words were clear that he needed to tell the public the truth, and that’s what I mean by ownership and responsibility… . The lie was told by Raeesah and it was Raeesah’s responsibility to expose this lie in parliament… All MPs… must, must hold themselves to a certain point and I think it was unacceptable for our MP to lie and he had to correct it.”

8. He explained why he said “I won’t judge you”

“When I told her about ownership and responsibility, she started to look a little nervous and uncomfortable, and I followed up by 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. About his meeting with Ms. Loh Pei Ying and Mr. Yudhishthra Nathan on 12 October 2021

“They didn’t seem too keen on Raeesah admitting the truth of what she said on August 3 and Yudhish in particular was suggesting to continue her lie…we’ve already reached out.

“I rejected that and said: ‘Look, he’s going to have to explain and make a personal statement. They weren’t very convinced, and I said I was voluntarily talking to them.’ Mr. Low (Thia Khiang) “And we all agreed that a personal statement was necessary.”