Yudhishthra Nathan asked again what Pritam Singh meant by ‘won’t judge’ against Raeesah on day 8 of trial – Mothership.SG

On October 23, former Workers’ Party (WP) member Yudhishthra Nathan took the witness box for the last time for the trial of WP General Secretary Pritam Singh.

During this latest round of questioning by Andre Jumabhoy, Singh’s lawyer, Nathan was asked in more detail about the meeting he had with ex-WP member Loh Pei Ying and Singh on October 12, 2021, and about his understanding of Singh saying that he Raeesah would ‘not judge’.

What happened at the October 12, 2021 meeting?

Jumabhoy noted that one topic that came up during the meeting was the communication strategy for Raeesah’s false anecdote in Parliament.

Nathan said he asked Singh why the party now got Raeesah to reveal its lie, although he said he could not remember the exact words he used.

When Jumabhoy asked him why he couldn’t remember, Nathan replied that the meeting was three years ago.

Jumabhoy also asked Nathan if the meeting was also the first time he had heard from Singh about the change in party strategy over Raeesah, and the first time he, along with Loh, was able to question Singh about the change.

Nathan answered both questions in the affirmative, saying Singh believed the government may already know the truth.

If the party continued to perpetuate the lie, it would receive “bad karma,” Nathan recalled Singh saying.

Jumabhoy pointed out that a change in strategy shared at the October 12, 2021 meeting was not raised by Nathan nor his fellow ex-WP cadre Loh Pei Ying at the Committee of Privileges (COP).

“You withheld this information?” Jumabhoy asked.

“No,” Nathan said, adding that he could not remember this “at the time,” although he had mentioned it separately to police.

He said it was not something he thought about when he was in police custody, adding that it would be a “big task” for him to remember everything.

Jumabhoy then pointed out that Nathan “had been given the floor” by COP member Minister Edwin Tong.

Jumabhoy referred Nathan to transcripts of the COP hearings and said:

“He said to you, ‘Did anything of significance happen on October 12 other than what we talked about?’

And you say, ‘Something meaningful? No.'”

“He doesn’t ask you if you went to the toilet that night. He doesn’t ask you about your life story that night,” Jumabhoy said, suggesting Nathan “made it up” when he talked about a change in strategy on October 1 . 12, 2021.

Nathan replied, “Absolutely not.”

Jumabhoy then suggested to Nathan that he had spoken to Loh and discussed what they should tell the police, including what details should be included or left out.

“I can’t remember, it was a long time ago,” Nathan replied.

However, when Jumabhoy suggested that Nathan and Loh had discussed including a “little nugget” about Singh citing a change in party strategy, Nathan said: “I don’t agree with that.”

What did Pritam mean when he said he ‘will not judge’ Raeesah?

Nathan also confirmed that the October 12, 2021 meeting took place when Singh told him about the October 3, 2021 meeting he had with Raeesah.

Nathan also said that Singh told him he would not convict Raeesah.

However, Nathan said that at the time he did not see the need to clarify the meaning of that sentence with Singh.

When Jumabhoy asked Nathan whether Singh had said during the meeting that Raeesah should take “ownership and responsibility”, he replied “absolutely not” and that Singh had “never used those words”.

Jumabhoy then asked Nathan about a ‘power imbalance’ he had mentioned earlier between Raeesah and Singh, as the two had met when Singh was already the leader of the party.

Jumabhoy then said that Nathan had met Singh when he was still an MP, and referred Nathan back to previous occasions when Nathan had spoken to Singh and disagreed with him.

Earlier, on October 18, Nathan had been asked to clarify his understanding of Singh’s phrase, “He wouldn’t judge her.”

Nathan had said, “I understood he was leaving it up to her. Whatever the option, if she chose to keep up the lie, he would have no problem with it.”

Part of the prosecution’s case against Singh is that he “deliberately guided” Raeesah to maintain the falsehood even when it was raised in Parliament, and gave her the impression that she could choose to continue with the untrue story, saying he wouldn’t judge her.

Request for disclosure of Nathan’s messages between October 4 and 12 denied

On Day 8 of the trial, Jumabhoy’s request for disclosure of Nathan’s WhatsApp messages between October 4 and 12, 2021 was also rejected by Deputy Chief District Judge Luke Tan.

According to the judge, he had examined the redacted and unredacted messages of Loh and Nathan’s WhatsApp messages and determined that none of these messages met the legal threshold for disclosure, known as the Kadar disclosure obligation.

The Kadar disclosure obligation requires the Prosecutor to disclose unused material in its possession that could undermine the Prosecutor’s case or support the suspect’s defense.

This includes unused material that is likely to be inadmissible but would provide a real opportunity to pursue a line of inquiry leading to material that is likely to be admissible and therefore considered relevant to the guilt or innocence of the suspect.

The court is not concerned with the conclusions of the COP or the evidence before the COP, the judge said.

The COP had operated under different conditions and terms of reference, he explained.

The court’s main concern is whether the prosecution has proven the allegations against Singh beyond reasonable doubt.

The court also does not have the mandate to comment on the COP, the judge noted.

The judge also pointed out that with regard to the communications submitted to the COP, it was clear that this occurred after Loh and Nathan’s oral testimony before the committee, and was not referred to while they were actually giving evidence.

He added that while Nathan’s credibility is an issue, as is obviously the case with all witnesses, the material he has not made public is not an issue.

Top photo from Mothership