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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.

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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.”

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This article was first published in Guardian Law

Sometimes the Singapore government cannot help itself. The conviction of Alan Shadrake, an outspoken but hitherto unknown British author, is not merely unjust; it reminds outsiders of the authoritarian and sinister side of a city state that most people associate only with shopping.

Shadrake is the latest in a long line of victims of one of the world’s most vicious defamation cultures. Pretty much any criticism can be deemed as “insult”. International media have fallen foul – from the Economist to the Far Eastern Economic Review – and most of the tiny group of opposition politicians have over the years been bankrupted and then imprisoned for going against the grain.

Shadrake, who divides his time between Malaysia and the UK, knew what he was doing, and he knew the consequences. He knew he was inviting trouble – more specifically charges of contempt – by calling into question the probity of the judiciary. But that does not make the attack on him any less acceptable or sensible. Imagine if Singapore had shown a little more foresight and ignored the affair. The book would not have matched Jamie or Nigella on the bestsellers.

Sentencing has now been deferred for a week, with prosecutors asking for “only” 12 weeks jail. This is more lenient than anticipated, perhaps denoting an element of embarrassment at the bad press. But the trial should not have happened in the first place.

As a frequent visitor to Singapore (where I was born), I have seen the best and the worst of the place. When nearly two years ago I wrote a piece for the Guardian previewing my book, Freedom for Sale as the model of the global tendency of people trading their liberty for either wealth or security – I was instantly denounced. They did not appreciate my description of the consumer culture there as “the anaesthetic for the brain”.

In spite of, or perhaps because of, the denunciations, I sought to engage the Singaporeans at the top of government. I suggested to them that their kneejerk response to all criticism, no matter the tone or subject matter, was doing their country enormous harm. They then surprised me by inviting me over to launch my book there. My father suggested they might “do a Polanski on me” and arrest me at the airport. In the event, I was treated well and the government-controlled Straits Times devoted two pages to a measured critique of my thesis.

The vacillations in my treatment suggest that the government in Singapore is not talking with one voice. Everyone is wondering what will happen once the 87-year-old Lee Kuan Yew, the father of the independent nation and father of the present prime minister, passes on. Will Singapore begin to loosen its stifling grip and tolerate free expression? I examine these questions in a special report later this week on BBC Radio 4′s The World Tonight.

Singapore’s population is well travelled and highly educated. The country is stable and completely integrated into the global economy and communications. Already it is allowing just a little more cultural freedom, but it does so nervously. The regime has nothing to fear except fear itself.

John Kampfner is the chief executive of Index on Censorship

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Index on Censorship Chief Executive John Kampfer commented: “The conviction of Alan Shadrake for what would have been deemed in many countries to constitute the defence of fair comment is another example of Singapore’s very poor record on free expression. If, as it says it does, the Singapore government seeks to loosen up culturally, it needs to understand that criticism of authority is part of the democratic discourse.”

Read the full judgment here

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Given the skill with which the ruling People’s Action Party has performed this fine balancing act, the latest repressive move appears somewhat out of kilter.
On Sunday morning, Singapore police arrested Alan Shadrake, a 75-year-old British writer, in connection with an investigation into alleged criminal defamation and other offences.
Shadrake was in the Southeast Asian city-state to promote his highly critical new book on the uneven use of capital punishment in Singapore, Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock.

The government regularly refuses to release statistics about the death penalty and the book, which the publishers claim “cuts through the façade of official silence to reveal disturbing truths about Singapore’s use of the death penalty”, has clearly ruffled some feathers.

The attorney general’s office, which has taken legal action against newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal for even mild criticism of the judicial system, is also seeking to bring contempt of court charges against Shadrake.

At time of writing, Shadrake remained in police custody (though there are reports of a release on bail emerging). If found guilty of criminal defamation, he could face up to two years in prison and a large fine.

Singaporean human rights lawyer M Ravi, who said he is acting for Shadrake, said that the government’s use of the criminal defamation law, which is meant to protect the reputations of individuals and companies, was “hysterical”.

“The police told me they are keeping him for further investigations,” Ravi said. “They have not finalised charges against him so I won’t be allowed access for the moment.”

Yet, strangely, given the seriousness of the charges facing Shadrake, Singapore’s Media Development Authority, which controls censorship and made the police complaint that led to Shadrake’s arrest, insists that it has not banned his book.

The book was withdrawn from sale in one of Singapore’s biggest book shops after the MDA told the retailer that it may want to seek legal advice to ensure that it did not contravene Singapore’s laws.

But, apparently, it will still be available in Singapore’s National Library to reference readers, although it cannot be borrowed.

Putting such obfuscation aside, Singaporean activists suggest that Shadrake’s arrest is designed to take the steam out of the growing anti-death penalty movement.
Although civil society organisations remain weak in the tightly-controlled city-state, the anti-death penalty movement has coalesced around a campaign to save Yong Vui Kong, a 22-year-old Malaysian drug mule who is facing a mandatory death sentence after being convicted of trafficking heroin.
Ravi, who is also acting for Yong, said that Shadrake’s arrest will have a “chilling effect on society and activists and therefore it will have an impact on the anti-death penalty campaign.”

The day before he was arrested, Shadrake told Agence France-Presse that he felt the authorities would not take action against him.
“’If they do anything, it’ll just draw more attention to it all, and they have no defence,” he said.

The detention of the 75-year-old writer has attracted adverse publicity in various news outlets around the world.

But, within Singapore, the government’s heavy-handed approach will send a clear warning that those who dare to engage in research and debate about sensitive issues such as the death penalty risk severe consequences.

Ben Bland is a freelance journalist who covers Southeast Asia. He blogs at www.asiancorrespondent.com/the-asia-file.

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