Alan Shadrake at a Reform Party rally, Speakers' Corner, Singapore - 20110115

Alan Shadrake (born mid-1934) is a British author and former journalist, who was convicted in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

in 2010 of

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...

for scandalising the Singapore judicial system, through his published views on the country's criminal justice system. Following a failed appeal, he served 5½ weeks in prison.Author Alan Shadrake released from Singapore jail
BBC News, 9 July 2011

Judicial process and international criticism

Shadrake was arrested on charges of 'criminal defamation' on 18 July 2010, a day after the publication of his book, ''Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock'', which attacked the Singapore judicial system. Shadrake, a resident of adjacent Malaysia, was said by the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

to have "cast doubt on the impartiality and independence of the judiciary", and was thus also served with legal papers citing him for

contempt Contempt is a pattern of attitudes and behaviour, often towards an individual or a group, but sometimes towards an ideology, which has the characteristics of disgust and anger. The word originated in 1393 in Old French contempt, contemps, ...

by scandalising the court. The arrest and charge followed several previous instances where Singapore's leaders have sued journalists and political opponents for defamation.Singapore jails British writer for contempt
AP, 17 November 2010 His arrest and subsequent detention for two days received widespread media coverage and elicited calls for his release, including from

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

and a dedicated Facebook page, and renewed attention on Singapore's practice of capital punishment. He was released pending trial after a local activist posted his bail of S$10,000 (US$7,240). Shadrake's case was in October and he mounted a vigorous defence, founded on the legal concept of 'fair criticism and fair comment'. His lawyer was M Ravi, one of the most prominent human rights lawyers in Singapore. During the trial,

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

launched a petition calling on the Singapore government to lift its restriction on Shadrake's travel, in view of his poor health. On 2 November 2010, a verdict of guilty of

was rendered by High Court Judge Quentin Loh. Shadrake subsequently apologised if he had offended the sensitivities of the judiciary and did not mean to undermine the judges or the judiciary. The prosecutors felt that the apology was insincere and intended to lighten the sentence from the court. On 16 November, Shadrake was sentenced to six weeks in prison and fined S$20,000. At the time of this verdict, Shadrake also faced separate charges of criminal defamation, punishable by up to two years in prison and a substantial fine. On 10 April 2011, Shadrake appealed against his sentence. The Court of Appeal affirmed the original sentence on 27 May 2011 and he was jailed on 1 June. He was unable to pay the fine and his sentence was therefore increased by a default two weeks' jail to a total of eight weeks. On 9 July, he was released early 'for good behaviour' and deported back to Britain.

Previous related work

In 2005, Shadrake interviewed and wrote about Darshan Singh, Singapore's executioner for nearly 50 years, in

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

, causing a minor controversy as it was shortly before the execution of

Van Tuong Nguyen A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

. Details from further interviews with Singh were included in ''Once a Jolly Hangman''.

Repercussions

Before Shadrake's book was published,

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

had plans to establish a liberal arts college (Yale-NUS) in conjunction with the National University of Singapore. Four Yale professors took issue with the question of academic freedom in a nation that hinders freedom of expression and, in light of the Shadrake verdict, asked the University administrators to reconsider establishing the college. They were unsuccessful, and Yale-NUS opened its doors in 2011.Singapore Suppresses Dissident

Personal life

Shadrake was born in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

in England. After working with several local weeklies and a news agency in Bolton, Lancashire, he joined the Daily Express in Manchester. He resigned in 1962 to freelance in West Berlin six months after the Berlin Wall was built and stayed until 1967. He returned to freelance in London and to start writing his first book The Yellow Pimpernels: Escape Stories of the Berlin Wall. In 1984 he moved to Santa Monica, California, where he freelanced with Star, Globe and the National Enquirer as well as UK and Australian magazines and tabloids. After his third marriage to a Korean American ended in disaster in 1997 he moved to Las Vegas. In 2002 he was invited by the Singapore government to write travel features to attract American tourists - and stayed to marry his fourth wife - this time a Chinese Singaporean. While freelancing for Australian and UK publications he began researching his Once a Jolly Hangman book which resulted in his arrest in 2010. He has four children, six grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Bibliography

*''The Yellow Pimpernels: escape stories of the Berlin Wall'' (1974), Hale *''Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew'' by his widow, Linda Lee with Max Caulfield *''Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock'' (2010), *The Beast of Jersey by his wife Joan Paisnel with Max Caulfield *Graham Young: The Boy Poisoner by his sister Winifred with Max Caulfield *Queen of the Witches with Maxine Saunders *Pray Silence by Ivor Spencer with Dennis Eisenberg.

References

External links

Reporters Without Borders petitionSingapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadrake, Alan 1934 births British people imprisoned abroad British writers Living people Prisoners and detainees of Singapore