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A Singapore public servant and her husband have been charged under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for leaking an unreleased media statementabout school closure during circuit breaker in 2020.

According to CNA, Noorain Jubli, 38, a personal assistant to the director-general of the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), was charged with two counts of wrongful communication of information on Wednesday, April 21.

Her husband Khairul Annuar Zakaria, 39, was also charged with two counts of the same offence under the OSA.

What happened

According to a news release by the police, Noorain, who was a public servant and authorised recipient of the media statement, is charged with taking a photo of the confidential information, then sharing it with her husband via WhatsApp on April 3, 2020, at 9am.

The draft joint media statement by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) had been intended to announce details of the implementation of full home-based learning by schools and Institutes of Higher Learning, as well as the closure of pre-schools and student care centres.

Khairul, who was not an authorised recipient of the media statement, had then allegedly shared the image with his friends.

The police added that Khairul is also charged with asking Noorain to take photos of a list of essential services that would continue operating during the circuit breaker, after which she purportedly did so.

A total of 16 others who had wrongfully received and further communicated the information downstream will be administered with written advisories for wrongful communication of information under the OSA, said the police.

If found guilty, Noorain and Kahirul can be fined up to S$2,000 and jailed for up to two years.

Top image from Pixabay