Dan Tan, also known as Tan Seet Eng, has been held under indefinite detention since October 2013.
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The man who once said the “death knell” was sounding for Dan Tan Seet Eng’s alleged match-fixing syndicate reacted with surprise and disappointment at the Singaporean’s release from prison yesterday.
It’s formerly called the 51-year old “the mastermind and leader of earth’s most infamous match fixing syndicate”. The law allows the Minister of Home Affairs to order the detention of suspected criminals without trial. Such detentions are reviewed every year.
“Match manipulation is a threat that undermines the integrity and credibility of football at different levels of the game”.
Tan’s lawyers, Hamidul Haq and Thong Chee Kun, challenged his continued detention, saying that it was illegally invoked as the alleged offences happened outside of Singapore’s jurisdiction.
“While these acts are reprehensible and should not be condoned, there is nothing to suggest whether or how these activities could be thought to have a bearing on the public safety, peace and good order”, Menon said as he delivered the decision of the three-judge court.
A Singapore judge has requested the guy supposed by Interpol to become the mastermind behind a worldwide soccer match’s launch band.
The New York Times reported that “the court found that the allegations did not meet the standard of the detention law”, while the BBC stated that Tan has been “implicated by Interpol in fixing hundreds of sports events, mostly football matches”. “My client is very relieved”.
Responding to media queries, the Ministry of Home Affairs said it will carefully consider what needs to be done in the current situation.
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He was also charged in absentia by a Hungarian court in May 2013 for his alleged role in fixing matches there. “It has been proven true today through the court judgment”, he said.
