Drug trafficker on Singapore death row granted clemency

SINGAPORE: A convicted drug trafficker was spared the death penalty and given life imprisonment on Thursday (Aug 14) after he was granted a pardon by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Tristan Tan Yi Rui, 33, was sentenced to death in 2023 after he was found guilty of possessing not less than 337.6g of methamphetamine for trafficking. His conviction and capital sentence were upheld by the Court of Appeal.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Friday that President Tharman had granted the pardon on the advice of the Cabinet.

"Cabinet was advised that the sentence imposed on Tan was legally sound. Nevertheless, a recommendation was made to grant clemency to him because of the specific facts and circumstances of the case," MHA said in response to CNA's queries.

Tan was nabbed as part of an operation by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in which several other people were arrested.

"One of the other subjects arrested in the operation, who was tried separately for a capital charge, eventually received a non-capital sentence," MHA said.

"The Cabinet decided to advise the grant of clemency to Tan to reduce the disparity in their respective outcomes."

Tan's lawyer, Mr Ramesh Tiwary, told CNA that he had argued for clemency, saying that Tan was young and deserved a second chance after realising his mistake.

Clemency is an "exceptional power" that is exercised as "an act of executive grace", said MHA.

The president may, on the advice of the Cabinet, grant a pardon, reprieve or respite of the execution of a sentence.

He or she may also remit the whole or any part of the sentence, penalty or forfeiture imposed by law.

In cases involving prisoners awaiting capital punishment, a sentence of death may be commuted to a sentence of imprisonment or fine or both.

Clemency has been sought for previous death sentences, but it is rarely given.

In 1998, the late President Ong Teng Cheong commuted the death sentence of convicted murderer Mathavakannan Kalimuthu to life imprisonment. He was eventually released in 2012 after spending about 16 years in prison.

In 2018, in a case of clemency not involving a death row inmate, then President Halimah Yacob granted clemency to a man who was a teenager when he murdered the wife of Anthony Ler, who had himself plotted the crime. Ler was sentenced to death.

His accomplice was spared the gallows because of his age and was eventually released after being detained under what is known as the President’s pleasure for 17 years.

THE CASE

According to court documents, Tan - the drug trafficker granted clemency - was arrested on Sep 27, 2018, by a team of CNB officers during an operation involving another man, known as Hakam, who was suspected of being involved in drug activities.

At 6.15pm, Tan drove to 3 Fourth Lok Yang Road, with another man named Hanis in his front passenger seat.

Around 7.40pm, Hakam was observed arriving in another car. Both Hakam and Hanis exited their vehicles and met each other, before boarding Tan’s car together.

Tan then drove to a coffee shop at 21 Kian Teck Road, where Hanis entered briefly, before they returned to Fourth Lok Yang Road.

At about 8.20pm, two unknown riders on motorcycles bearing Malaysian licence plates arrived at Fourth Lok Yang Road. One of the riders met Hakam behind Tan’s car before both motorcycles left.

Shortly after, Tan drove from Fourth Lok Yang Road to an HDB block in Tampines, with Hanis still in the front passenger seat.

A team of CNB officers then moved in to arrest Tan and Hanis. A plastic bag containing at least 499g of a crystalline substance was found in the car. The substance was later revealed to contain not less than 337.6g of methamphetamine.

Prosecutors argued that Tan knew he possessed methamphetamine and intended to traffic it, pointing to evidence on two mobile phones, “TT-HP1” and “TT-HP2”, which allegedly belonged to Tan.

Messages on the two phones showed negotiations between a user and a man known as Hari, who had previously supplied Tan with small amounts of methamphetamine for his own consumption.

The messages, prosecutors argued, also showed that a person named “Travis” - who Tan said had passed him TT-HP1 on the day of the arrest - was not a real person and was instead an alias used by Tan for the purpose of drug transactions.

This was evidenced by messages on TT-HP2, which Tan testified was his personal mobile phone, telling his friends to contact TT-HP1 for the purpose of drug transactions, and to address him as “Travis” when doing so. 

The prosecution also relied on the testimony of Hanis, who testified that he was only there to facilitate, on behalf of Hari, Tan’s collection of the drugs on the evening they were arrested.

The defence argued that Tan was merely acting as a driver and had no knowledge of the nature of the drugs or intent to traffic.

Tan testified that he was a regular drug user and Hari was his supplier. Hari would sometimes give him drugs for free, in exchange for doing him favours. These favours usually involved ferrying Hari’s friends around in his car or helping them withdraw money.

Thus, the defence argued, Tan was merely a driver for Hanis, who had been tasked to collect the drugs for the group. The defence also contended that "Travis” was a real person, not an alias.

THE CONVICTION AND SENTENCE

High Court Judge Aedit Abdullah found that there was a “clear conclusion” that Tan’s negotiations with Hari on TT-HP1 had been for the sale and handover of the drugs on Sep 27, 2018.

“The accused’s actions on the day of arrest - following Hari’s instructions to various locations and waiting for long periods of time at these locations - were only plausible if he had been planning to take possession of the drugs that day,” Justice Abdullah said.

Messages on Hanis’ mobile phone, as well as his own testimony, also indicated that Tan had taken possession of the drugs from Hakam at the Lok Yang area.

Justice Abdullah added that he could not accept that the messages on TT-HP1 had been sent by Travis rather than the accused, as the evidence showed that the accused had been the sole user of TT-HP1, and Travis appeared to have been an alias for conducting drug transactions.

Under Singapore law, anyone proven to have more than 25g of methamphetamine is presumed to possess it for trafficking unless proven otherwise.

Justice Abdullah noted that while the prosecution did not show that Tan intended to traffic the drugs, the defence also failed to rebut the presumption of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

“The defence essentially relied on the argument that the accused had not intended to possess the drugs in the first place and had not known that the bundle contained methamphetamine, even if Hakam had indeed passed the bundle to him,” he said.

But as evidence showed that Tan had negotiated for the purchase of the drugs from Hari and had intended to and had in fact taken possession of the drugs at the Lok Yang area, it meant that the defence’s argument could not stand.

“The result was that the presumption applied, and thus the element of possession for the purpose of trafficking was made out,” Justice Abdullah said.

He found Tan’s role went beyond that of a courier, noting he had negotiated the purchase and handover of the drugs.

As Tan was not eligible for the alternative sentencing regime, which allows certain death-eligible drug offenders to be sentenced to life imprisonment and caning instead of the mandatory death penalty, and the amount of methamphetamine exceeded 250g, Justice Abdullah sentenced Tan to death.