The exchanges between Deputy Attorney-General Ang Cheng Hock, a former High Court judge, and trained lawyer Singh were almost unyielding, such that Mr Ang asked Singh at one point to “please stop” talking.
A deputy attorney-general locked horns with Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh on Wednesday (Nov 6) as he continued his cross-examination of the opposition leader in a trial about lies. The exchanges between Deputy Attorney-General Ang Cheng Hock, a former High Court judge, and trained lawyer Singh were almost unyielding, such that Mr Ang asked Singh at one point to “please stop” talking. “You haven’t answered my question, which is why we are making no progress here,” said the senior counsel.
Singh, 48, is on the stand as part of his defence in his ongoing trial for two unprecedented charges. He is accused of lying to the Committee of Privileges in December 2021, when he was being questioned about his intentions regarding former WP member of parliament Raeesah Khan’s false anecdote. Ms Khan, a new MP who was successfully deployed to Sengkang GRC in the 2020 General Election under Singh’s instruction, had shared in parliament on Aug 3, 2021 that she had gone to a police station with a rape victim. This anecdote was later revealed to be false. Ms Khan had not gone to the police station with the so-called rape victim, but she had been a victim of sexual assault at the age of 18.
Under Mr Ang’s questioning, Singh agreed that there were several things he did not do with regard to Ms Khan’s lie. First, he did not ask Ms Khan when he visited her at her father’s house on Oct 3, 2021, if she had told her parents about her sexual assault. He had told the COP that this was one of the things he wanted to let her do before clarifying the lie. He did not text or email Ms Khan to ask her if she had spoken to her parents about it, and he did not check with her if she was ready to clarify the untruth in parliament.
“I put it to you, Mr Singh, that the truth of the matter is – that you proceeded on the basis that Ms Khan was not going to come clean on Oct 4,” said Mr Ang. “And that is why you didn’t, on Oct 3, tell Ms Khan to tell the truth.” Singh disagreed.
Mr Ang charged that Singh had given Ms Khan a choice whether to tell the truth on Oct 4, 2021. “And you guided her to maintain the untruth. Agree?” he said. “Disagree,” replied Singh. According to Singh, he thought it was “crystal clear” when he told Ms Khan on Oct 3, 2021, that she had to “take ownership and responsibility” if the issue came up the next day in parliament, meaning she had to tell the truth.
“I put it to you that you didn’t do anything (on Oct 4, 2021 after the lie was repeated) because she was just acting according to your guidance to her the night before,” said Mr Ang. “Agree?” “I will have to disagree very vehemently,” said Singh, but in a temperate voice.
