Singapore: PM demands apology from dissident website

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.

British author Alan Shadrake jailed in Singapore

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.

Singapore: British author appeals jail term

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.