Drug trafficker pardoned by President on the advice of S’pore Cabinet
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam has pardoned a convicted drug trafficker from the death penalty, reported Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
As a result, Tristan Tan Yi Rui, 33, will serve life imprisonment instead for his offence.
Source: Ye Jinghan on Unsplash
President may grant pardon as ‘an act of executive grace’
Mr Tharman had granted Tan’s pardon on Thursday (14 Aug) upon the advice of the Singapore Cabinet, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) was quoted by CNA as saying.
This “exceptional power” may be exercised by the President as “an act of executive grace”, also allowing him to grant a reprieve or respite of a sentence.
The President may also remit any part of a sentence, penalty or forfeiture imposed by law.
For death-row inmates, their capital punishment may be commuted to imprisonment and/or a fine.
Source: Tamara Gore on Unsplash
Drug trafficker pardoned after fellow suspect escaped death penalty
In Tan’s case, clemency was recommended due to the “specific facts and circumstances” of his case, MHA said.
He was arrested together with several others during a Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) operation.
One of the other suspects arrested with him, who also faced the death penalty, eventually escaped capital punishment.
Thus, the Cabinet decided to advise the President to grant Tan clemency “to reduce the disparity in their respective outcomes”.
Tan’s lawyer Ramesh Tiwary told CNA that Tan was young and deserved a second chance.
337.6g of ‘Ice’ found in his car after arrest in Sept 2018
According to a High Court judgement in 2023, Tan was arrested during a CNB operation on 27 Sept 2018.
Tan, who was then 26, had been driving a white Volkswagen car with a 29-year-old man identified as Muhammad Hanis bin Mohamed Mokhtar in the front passenger seat.
The men were arrested after Tan stopped the car next to an HDB block along Tampines Street 21.
A search of his car turned up a red-and-black taped bundle.
Source: Central Narcotics Bureau
The bundle contained a plastic packet, which was found to contain not less than 499g of a crystalline substance.
The substance was analysed by the Health Sciences Authority, which found that it contained not less than 337.6g of methamphetamine, or ‘Ice’.
Source: Central Narcotics Bureau
According to the CNB, Tan’s residential unit in Tampines was also searched and about 16g of cannabis and a small amount of ‘Ice’ was recovered.
A 26-year-old female suspected drug abuser was also arrested in the unit.
Tan claimed he was only a driver
Tan testified during his trial that he was a regular drug user and that his supplier, a man known as “Hari”, would give him free drugs in exchange for driving his friends around.
Hanis was one such friend, and the drugs had been collected by him, with Tan only acting as his driver, the defence argued.
Tan did not know the nature of the drugs, nor did he intend to traffic in them, his lawyers said.
However, the prosecution said Tan had intended to traffic in the drugs as messages on his phone had detailed him making arrangements with Hari to take possession of the drugs, and also included negotiations regarding the sale and handover of the drugs.
He was eventually convicted and sentenced to death for trafficking in a controlled drug.
The judge relied on the phone messages in reasoning that Tan had negotiated the purchase and handover of the drugs, thus proving that his role in the transaction was “clearly not limited to that of a courier”.
The conviction, as well as the death penalty, were subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Also read: President To Grant Drug Trafficker Respite From Execution, M. Ravi Says He’s Relieved
President To Grant Drug Trafficker Respite From Execution, M. Ravi Says He’s Relieved
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Featured image adapted from Central Narcotics Bureau.
