Pritam Singh trial adjourned as lead lawyer Andre Jumabhoy is sick; set to resume on Oct 23

SINGAPORE: The dramatic trial of Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh will be adjourned to Wednesday (Oct 23) afternoon, as his lead lawyer Andre Jumabhoy is sick.
Mr Jumabhoy’s colleague, Mr Aristotle Emmanuel Eng, told the court after a stand-down of about an hour on Tuesday morning that Mr Jumabhoy had seen a doctor and received a medical certificate for two days.
The certificate states that he is unfit for court. CNA asked Mr Eng after the hearing what illness Mr Jumabhoy is down with, but Mr Eng said he was “also not sure”, before adding that he had no comment.
Mr Eng asked the court to stand down the trial until 2.30pm on Wednesday.
Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan asked for the medical certificate to be uploaded before asking the prosecution if they had any issues with the adjournment.
Deputy Attorney-General Ang Cheng Hock replied in the negative, adding: “I wish him a speedy recovery.”
The judge also asked Mr Eng to let his court officer have an update on Wednesday morning.
The public gallery was packed as usual, with guards turning away some people as they had issued all the available tickets.
Former WP chief Low Thia Khiang was expected to take the stand as early as Monday, making a brief appearance that afternoon before leaving.
He is next up after ex-WP cadre member Yudhishthra Nathan finishes his turn on the stand.
Judge Tan did not give a decision on Mr Nathan’s unredacted messages, that Mr Jumabhoy had made an application for.
Mr Jumabhoy’s illness comes after six full days of trial. The prosecution opened its case on Oct 14, and three of its witnesses have taken the stand so far: Former WP member of parliament (MP) Raeesah Khan, as well as her confidantes and then-party cadres Loh Pei Ying and Mr Nathan.
Singh, the 48-year-old Leader of the Opposition, claimed trial to two rare charges of lying twice before a Committee of Privileges (COP) about what he wanted Ms Khan to do regarding a lie she told in parliament.
Ms Khan told parliament on Aug 3, 2021, about accompanying a rape survivor to a police station, where the woman was questioned by police about her attire and the fact that she had been drinking.
This was later revealed to be a lie, which she admitted to in parliament on Nov 1, 2021.
How the WP leaders, particularly Singh, handled it came under question when the COP was convened to look into her conduct.
The trial is slated for 16 days so far, with the first tranche ending on Thursday. The next tranche comprises seven days in November, beginning on Nov 5, with breaks in between.
The prosecution has five witnesses slated. After Mr Low takes the stand, an investigating officer is expected to testify, following which the prosecution will close its case.
Once this is done, the judge will decide whether the prosecution has made out enough of a case for him to call on the defence to answer.
If he finds there is a case, Singh will have to decide whether he will be testifying or not. Thus far, the defence has not openly disclosed its list of witnesses for its case.
During a previous court session, the defence and prosecution had crossed swords about the timing of proceedings – Mr Jumabhoy had asked for the hearing on the morning of Oct 24 to be vacated, as Singh wanted to attend his daughter’s graduation, where she will give a speech.
The prosecution said it had some difficulty with this application, as trial dates had been given in April.
Mr Jumabhoy then said the trial’s October tranche was for the prosecution to finish its case, and the November dates are for the defence – if it is called upon.
Deputy Attorney-General Ang disagreed with this characterisation, saying: “We are supposed to finish the trial as soon as possible, and it’s not the case that we finish our prosecution’s case by this tranche, it’s that we finish the prosecution’s case (and start with the defence’s case).”
He said the remaining days in November are reserve dates, in case the trial cannot be finished, adding that “there is no agreement” that the two weeks in October are for the prosecution’s case.
The judge said he would decide nearer the date, depending on how the trial went.