Man jailed for life to be released due to 'ambiguity'
Published on Jan 20, 2012
Mathavakannan Kalimuthu, 33, will be released soon as he cannot be jailed for his natural life as he had committed the offence in May 1996, The High Court ruled. -- PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
By Khushwant Singh
A prisoner facing imprisonment for the rest of his life will be released soon.
The High Court on Thursday decided that Mathavakannan Kalimuthu, 33, cannot be jailed for his natural life as he had committed the offence in May 1996.
Then 19 years old, he was sentenced to death for killing a 25-year-old gangster during a fight.
His two accomplices were hanged but Mathavakannan had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment by President Ong Teng Cheong in April 1998.
By then, the Court of Appeal had ruled that life imprisonment sentences for offences committed after Aug 20, 1997 constitutes imprisonment for the offender's natural life.
Prior to this ruling, a life sentence would be for 20 years with remission for good behaviour.
However, the prison authorities maintained that President Ong had commuted Mathavakannan's death sentence to natural life imprisonment so the Court of Appeal's ruling on life sentences did not apply.
Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.
Mathavakannan Kalimuthu, 33, will be released soon as he cannot be jailed for his natural life as he had committed the offence in May 1996, The High Court ruled. -- PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
By Khushwant Singh
A prisoner facing imprisonment for the rest of his life will be released soon.
The High Court on Thursday decided that Mathavakannan Kalimuthu, 33, cannot be jailed for his natural life as he had committed the offence in May 1996.
Then 19 years old, he was sentenced to death for killing a 25-year-old gangster during a fight.
His two accomplices were hanged but Mathavakannan had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment by President Ong Teng Cheong in April 1998.
By then, the Court of Appeal had ruled that life imprisonment sentences for offences committed after Aug 20, 1997 constitutes imprisonment for the offender's natural life.
Prior to this ruling, a life sentence would be for 20 years with remission for good behaviour.
However, the prison authorities maintained that President Ong had commuted Mathavakannan's death sentence to natural life imprisonment so the Court of Appeal's ruling on life sentences did not apply.
Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.
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