S'pore man, 33, convicted of drug trafficking has death sentence commuted by Presidential clemency

A convicted drug trafficker's death sentence was commuted on Aug. 14  after clemency was granted by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Tristan Tan Yi Rui, 33, who was convicted and sentenced to death in 2023, will now serve a life sentence.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Friday (Aug. 15) that President Tharman granted the pardon on the advice of the Cabinet, The Straits Times (ST) reported.

Clemency to reduce disparity between similar cases

MHA told CNA that the Cabinet was advised that the sentence imposed on Tan was legally sound.

Nevertheless, clemency was recommended because of the "specific facts and circumstances of the case."

Tan was caught during a Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) operation along with several others, ST wrote.

One of those arrested in the operation, who was also tried for a capital charge, eventually received a non-capital sentence, MHA said.

Cabinet thus decided to advise the grant of clemency to reduce the disparity in their respective outcomes.

MHA did not identify the individual who received the non-capital sentence.

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

Speaking to CNA, Tan's lawyer, Ramesh Tiwary, said that he had argued for clemency on grounds that Tan was young and deserved a second chance.

Clemency is rarely given.

One previous time a death row inmate had his death sentence commuted was in 1998.

Mathavakannan Kalimuthu, who was 19 at the time and convicted of murdering a gangster, received clemency from President Ong Teng Cheong.

The case

Drug exchange in 2018

According to Tan's judgement handed down in 2023, Tan was nabbed when CNB officers held an operation along Fourth Lok Yang Road on Sep. 27, 2018 involving one Muhammad Hakam.

At about 6:15pm, Tan, who was driving a white Volkswagen, parked the car outside 3 Fourth Lok Yang Road with Hanis bin Mohamed Mokhtar in the front passenger seat.

At about 7:40pm, a green Suzuki arrived at the same location.

Hakam exited the green Suzuki, while Hanis exited the white Volkswagen.

The two then boarded the white Volkswagen.

Tan then drove to the vicinity of a coffee shop located along 21 Kian Teck Road.

Hanis alighted the car and entered the coffee shop for short while before returning.

Tan then drove the car and its passengers back to Fourth Lok Yang Road.

At 8:20pm, two unknown riders arrived on motorcycles bearing Malaysian license plates.

One of the riders met up with Hakam behind the white car.

Both motorcycles left after that.

Shortly after, Tan drove himself and Hanis to an HDB block in Tampines.

There, CNB officers moved to arrest both of them.

After searching the vehicle, CNB officers found a red and black taped bundle containing not less than 337.6g of methamphetamine.

Prosecution argued Tan knew of drug exchange

The defence put forth the case that Tan merely acted as the driver without knowing the nature of the drugs or the intention to traffic them.

On the contrary, the prosecution argued that Tan did not act merely as a courier.

They presented evidence that suggested Tan knew about the nature of the drugs, including Tan's DNA being found on the inside of the packaging as opposed to merely on the outside.

The prosecution also relied on text messages found on a mobile phone, labelled "TT-HP1".

The messages on "TT-HP1" involved the phone's user negotiating the Sep. 28 drug exchange, such as a discussing a possible reduction in price for the drugs to be handed over.

Tan claimed that the phone did not belong to him but was instead left behind in the car by someone named "Travis".

The prosecution later showed that "Travis" was an alias used by Tan.

They pointed to how contacts who messaged "TT-HP1" would identify the user of the phone as "Tristan", and how Tristan would tell others on another phone that his nickname was "Travis".

Based on the evidence presented, the judge sided with the prosecution and found that Tan knowingly trafficked drugs, thereby sentencing him to death.

Top image via Wikimedia Commons, Canva