Dan Tan case: Law involved is sound, backed by most, says Shanmugam

SINGAPORE — Responding to criticism over the release of alleged match-fixing mastermind Dan Tan from detention, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said today (Nov 30) that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had assessed Tan to be a threat, and his detention in 2013 was “on good grounds”.

And despite calls for the legislation to be reviewed, Mr Shanmugam stressed there was nothing wrong with the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act (CLTPA), and “a majority of Singaporeans support it”.

The issue is with the way Tan’s detention order was drafted, “and that is not a question of policy or principle”, he said. “(The court) did not say the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act is not effective, nor did they say that match-fixing does not come within the CLTPA. What they said was that the order that was issued to (Tan) did not contain sufficient grounds to make out a case to show that he was a serious threat for public order and safety,” said Mr Shanmugam, during a visit to the Central Police Division today to thank police officers for their work this year.

Tan was released last Wednesday after judges said the grounds for his detention set out few connections with Singapore. He had been in custody since October 2013.

Mr Shanmugam said the MHA accepted the apex court’s decision and will continue to study the judgment. Noting that international observers, including former Interpol investigators, have taken issue with the court’s decision, Mr Shanmugam said: “From their perspective, without having looked at the grounds of the Court of Appeal’s judgement, they take it at the headlines, that he is being released by the courts and they can’t understand.”

During his visit today, Mr Shanmugam expressed his appreciation to some 80 officers in the Singapore Police Force who were deployed for various operations this year, such as the State Funeral of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the South-east Asian Games, the Jubilee Weekend celebrations, and relief efforts for the AirAsia QZ8501 crash. In some events, 4,000 to 5,000 officers were deployed at one go, he noted.

“You have had to make personal sacrifices, working around the clock. Your loved ones also made their sacrifice when family plans had to be adjusted due to your deployment during the year-long operations,” he said, adding this came on top of regular policing.