Posts Tagged ‘Singapore’
February 20th, 2012
Singapore’s prime minister has
demanded an apology from a political website, following allegedly defamatory posts. In a letter to the editors of website
TR Emeritus, the lawyer of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong requested the apology, after posts on the website alleged nepotism in the appointment of the prime minsters wife as head of a state-linked firm. The lawyer, Davinder Singh, said the article was “published maliciously and recklessly” and constituted “a very grave libel” against the prime minister. He demanded that the editors take down the original article and subsequent comments and post an apology by 24 February.
June 3rd, 2011
The United Nations special rapporteur for free expression Frank La Rue has called for the abolition of criminal defamation laws. Guatemalan lawyer La Rue also condemned the use of “national security” reasons to curb free expression:
In a
report released today, LaRue comments:
The Special Rapporteur reiterates the call to all States to decriminalize defamation. Additionally, he underscores that protection of national security or countering terrorism cannot be used to justify restricting the right to expression unless it can be demonstrated that: (a) the expression is intended to incite imminent violence; (b) it is likely to incite such violence; and (c) there is a direct and immediate connection between the expression and the likelihood or occurrence of such violence.
Criminal defamation cases are frequently brought to silence criticism of authorities. Recent examples include actions brought against journalist
Art Troitsky in Russia and anti death penalty campaigner
Alan Shadrake in Singapore.
May 27th, 2011
The Singapore High Court has denied writer Alan Shadrake’s appeal against his six-week jail sentence.
Shadrake was
convicted of “scandalising the judiciary” in November after he published “Once A Jolly Hangman” a book criticising the use of the death sentence in the city-state. The author was first
arrested in July 2010 while on a book tour and subsequently released on bail.
Singapore law considers statements that “interfere with the administration of justice” a criminal offense. The British writer, 76, still faces a separate charge of defamation.
April 11th, 2011
The British author Alan Shadrake, 76, has launched an appeal today (11 April) against a six-week jail sentence he received for scandalising
Singapore’s judiciary. Shadrake was
sentenced and fined last November after the Singapore High Court ruled that his book, Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock, broke the city-state’s laws. The Attorney-General’s Chamber in Singapore had
argued that the book damaged public perception of the judiciary.
November 22nd, 2010
The Attorney General’s Office today
made an unprecedented application for the court to remind Alan Shadrake of his right to seek leave of the court if he wants to leave Singapore. This implies that if his defence team applies for Shadrake to leave the jurisdiction, the prosecution would not contest it. Last Tuesday, he was
sentenced to six weeks in prison for
“scandalising the court” in his book Once A Jolly Hangman. Shadrake, who
appealed the sentence last week, has said that he will consider the offer.
November 16th, 2010
British journalist Alan Shadrake has been sentenced to six weeks in prison and fined SGD$20,000 by a Singapore court,
Shadrake, 76, was earlier found guilty of contempt of court after he claimed in his book “Once a Jolly Hangman” that the Singaporean judiciary was not impartial in its application of the death penalty. He has been granted seven days to appeal the sentence.
Index on Censorship chief executive John Kampfner commented: “Alan Shadrake’s sentence once again shows Singapore’s desperate difficulties in dealing with criticism and free expression.”
November 10th, 2010
Alan Shadrake’s conviction for contempt shows Singapore’s sinister side – but there are signs the country is changing. John Kampfner reports
This article was first published in Guardian Law
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November 3rd, 2010
British author Alan Shadrake has been found guilty of insulting Singapore’s judiciary in a book he wrote about the city state’s use of the death penalty.
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