Shadrake to be released from S'pore jail in July
Published: Jun 23, 2011 7:13 AM | Updated: Jun 23, 2011 10:00 AM
A British author who criticised Singapore’s death penalty was to be released in early July and deported, his lawyer said today.
A British author imprisoned for criticising Singapore’s death penalty was to be released in early July and deported, his lawyer said today.
Alan Shadrake, 76 (left), on June 1 started an eight-week jail term after a court ruled that several passages in his book Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock constituted contempt of court.
But his lawyer said he was being released on July 9 and deported to London after his term was cut by a third due to good behaviour.
The sentence, which included two weeks for declining to pay a fine of S$20,000 (US$16,150), was the heaviest so far imposed for contempt of court in Singapore.
Prosecutors also agreed to drop an investigation for criminal defamation against Shandrake, saying it related essentially to the same “matrix of facts” as the contempt of court conviction.
His book criticises the use of the death penalty for crimes such as drug trafficking in the city-state, where possession of 15g of heroin incurs the automatic death penalty on conviction.
He also accused Singapore’s courts of yielding to political pressure and of favouring the rich over the poor, basing his allegations on interviews with a former executioner, human rights activists and police officers.
The Malaysia-based author was arrested in Singapore in July following the launch of his book there.
The judges said his crime was “the worst case of scandalising contempt that has hitherto come before the Singapore courts,” but activist group Human Rights Watch condemned his conviction, calling it “a devastating blow to free speech in Singapore”.
- dpa
Alan Shadrake, 76 (left), on June 1 started an eight-week jail term after a court ruled that several passages in his book Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock constituted contempt of court.But his lawyer said he was being released on July 9 and deported to London after his term was cut by a third due to good behaviour.
The sentence, which included two weeks for declining to pay a fine of S$20,000 (US$16,150), was the heaviest so far imposed for contempt of court in Singapore.
Prosecutors also agreed to drop an investigation for criminal defamation against Shandrake, saying it related essentially to the same “matrix of facts” as the contempt of court conviction.
His book criticises the use of the death penalty for crimes such as drug trafficking in the city-state, where possession of 15g of heroin incurs the automatic death penalty on conviction.
He also accused Singapore’s courts of yielding to political pressure and of favouring the rich over the poor, basing his allegations on interviews with a former executioner, human rights activists and police officers.
The Malaysia-based author was arrested in Singapore in July following the launch of his book there.
The judges said his crime was “the worst case of scandalising contempt that has hitherto come before the Singapore courts,” but activist group Human Rights Watch condemned his conviction, calling it “a devastating blow to free speech in Singapore”.
- dpa
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