SINGAPORE - The personal assistant to the director-general of the Singapore Food Agency was charged on Wednesday (April 21) under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) with leaking information on school closures during the Covid-19 circuit breaker last year.
Noorain Jubli, 38, faces two charges for the wrongful communication of information - the second such case in the past week. Her husband Khairul Annuar Zakaria, 39, also faces one such charge and another for soliciting wrongful communication of information.
The information was allegedly from a draft joint media statement by the Ministry of Social and Family Development and the Ministry of Education.
It was to announce details of the implementation of full home-based learning by schools and institutes of higher learning, and the closure of pre-schools and student care centres.
Noorain had accessed the classified information from the director-general's e-mail inbox. She allegedly sent the information to her husband before it was officially released. He is said to have then sent it to his friends.
On Tuesday night, the police said they had received a report about the incident on April 3 last year.
The woman had apparently taken a picture of the media release from her computer screen. She was an authorised recipient of the media statement.
She is also alleged to have taken photos of a list of essential services that would continue operating during the circuit breaker and sent them to her husband, at his request.
Noorain Jubli (left) and her husband Khairul Annuar Zakaria can be fined up to $2,000 and jailed for up to two years. PHOTOS: LIANHE ZAOBAO
They can be fined up to $2,000 and jailed for up to two years.
They are out on $5,000 bail and are expected to plead guilty on June 11.
Sixteen others who received the information and disseminated it will be given written warnings for wrongful communication, said the police.
Last Wednesday, a former deputy lead at the Ministry of Health (MOH) was charged under the OSA with leaking Singapore's daily Covid-19 case numbers 22 times last year.
Zhao Zheng, 36, had allegedly shared the daily numbers in a WeChat group that had 49 other members, before MOH had officially released the numbers.
She is also accused of obtaining confidential details of a Covid-19 patient without authorisation and giving the information to co-accused Tang Lin.
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Noorain Jubli, 38, faces two charges for the wrongful communication of information - the second such case in the past week. Her husband Khairul Annuar Zakaria, 39, also faces one such charge and another for soliciting wrongful communication of information.
The information was allegedly from a draft joint media statement by the Ministry of Social and Family Development and the Ministry of Education.
It was to announce details of the implementation of full home-based learning by schools and institutes of higher learning, and the closure of pre-schools and student care centres.
Noorain had accessed the classified information from the director-general's e-mail inbox. She allegedly sent the information to her husband before it was officially released. He is said to have then sent it to his friends.
On Tuesday night, the police said they had received a report about the incident on April 3 last year.
The woman had apparently taken a picture of the media release from her computer screen. She was an authorised recipient of the media statement.
She is also alleged to have taken photos of a list of essential services that would continue operating during the circuit breaker and sent them to her husband, at his request.
Noorain Jubli (left) and her husband Khairul Annuar Zakaria can be fined up to $2,000 and jailed for up to two years. PHOTOS: LIANHE ZAOBAO
They can be fined up to $2,000 and jailed for up to two years.
They are out on $5,000 bail and are expected to plead guilty on June 11.
Sixteen others who received the information and disseminated it will be given written warnings for wrongful communication, said the police.
Last Wednesday, a former deputy lead at the Ministry of Health (MOH) was charged under the OSA with leaking Singapore's daily Covid-19 case numbers 22 times last year.
Zhao Zheng, 36, had allegedly shared the daily numbers in a WeChat group that had 49 other members, before MOH had officially released the numbers.
She is also accused of obtaining confidential details of a Covid-19 patient without authorisation and giving the information to co-accused Tang Lin.
More...