Author loses appeal against Singapore conviction
The British author Alan Shadrake has lost an appeal against his contempt of court conviction and will begin a jail sentence in Singapore next week.
Shadrake, 76, refused to apologise for his book, Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock, which is critical of the country's use of the death penalty for crimes such as drug trafficking.
The high court judge Andrew Phang upheld a six-week jail term that begins next Wednesday. Shadrake will also serve an extra two weeks in jail after declining to pay a fine of 20,000 Singapore dollars (£10,000).
M Ravi, Shadrake's lawyer, said his client's jail term would most likely be reduced by a third for good behaviour.
"They tried to scare me into apologising," Shadrake told reporters after the ruling. "They're bullies who don't like freedom of speech."
The attorney-general's office alleged that statements in the book impugn the impartiality, integrity and independence of the Singapore judiciary. The government says any statement that damages the reputations of its leaders hinders their ability to rule effectively.
A criminal defamation investigation against Shadrake is still pending.
Rights groups say Singapore uses criminal defamation laws to silence critics. Singapore's leaders have sued journalists and political opponents for defamation several times in recent years.
"The prosecution of Alan Shadrake for doing nothing more than calling for legal reform is a devastating blow to free speech in Singapore," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at New York-based Human Rights Watch. "More broadly, until the government releases its iron grip on basic freedoms, the Singaporean people will remain all the poorer."
The government says restrictions on speech and assembly are necessary to preserve economic prosperity and racial and religious harmony among Singapore's 5.1 million population.
Shadrake was arrested on 18 July and freed on bail two days later. The author, who was born in Essex, and has four children, said he did not expect to be arrested after hosting a book launch party on 17 July because the government has not banned the sale of the book in Singapore.
The book features an interview with Darshan Singh, who was Singapore's hangman from 1959 to 2005.
Singapore applies capital punishment by hanging for offences such as murder, drug trafficking and unlawful use of a firearm. The country is one of the world's richest and has a relatively low rate of violent crime.