‘I will not judge you’ remark retold as third witness testifies

Ex-cadre recalls thinking it was 'indecisive' of WP chief to say that to Raeesah Khan

- Wong Pei Ting Correspondent and Tham Yuen-C Senior Political Correspondent

Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh had told two party cadres that he met former Sengkang GRC MP Raeesah Khan on Oct 3, 2021, and told her he would not judge her, regardless of whether she decided to continue her lie or tell the truth to Parliament.

This was the testimony of former WP cadre Yudhishthra Nathan, who took the stand as the third witness on day five of Singh's trial on Oct 18.

“He said verbatim 'I will not judge you,'” said Mr Nathan, who was recounting to the court what transpired during a meeting that he and fellow cadre Loh Pei Ying had with Singh on Oct 12, 2021.

Singh is fighting two charges over allegedly lying to a parliamentary committee that he had, on Aug 8 and Oct 3, 2021, wanted Ms Khan to clarify her untruth in Parliament.

Ms Khan lied to Parliament on Aug 3, 2021, that she had accompanied a sexual assault victim to a police station, where the victim was treated insensitively.

She repeated the claim before the House on Oct 4 the same year, before admitting to her lie on Nov 1, 2021.

The court heard that when Singh met Mr Nathan and Ms Loh on the night of Oct 12, 2021, the Leader of the Opposition “did convey” that he had a feeling Ms Khan's untruth would come up when Parliament sat on Oct 4.

So he paid a visit to her house the day before, on Oct 3, 2021. That was where Singh “conveyed to Ms Khan that whether she decided to continue the lie or narrative, or whether she decided to tell the truth, that he would not judge her”, Mr Nathan told the court.

When Deputy Public Prosecutor Sivakumar Ramasamy asked about his reaction to what Singh said, Mr Nathan replied: “I did think that was rather indecisive of him. But I didn't verbally express it. I didn't see a need to at that point in time.”

Asked if Singh had specified when Ms Khan was supposed to decide between continuing the lie and telling the truth, Mr Nathan, who left WP in 2022, said the party chief had not.