Alan Shadrake

British author and journalist Alan Shadrake is on trial in Singapore for contempt of court for alleged attacks against the Singapore judiciary in his book on the death penalty, Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock.

Shadrake, arrested back in July as reported earlier on MobyLives here and here, stands by the accuracy of the contents of his book wherein he questions the government’s use of the death penalty — which is mandatory for murder, treason and drug trafficking in Singapore.

Shadrake’s attorney, Mr. M Ravi, told the High Court, “The passages neither scandalise the court, nor do they depart from the principle of fair criticism endorsed by the Singapore court. The submissions made in the book are well-evidenced and well-sourced, not the tittle-tattle or unscrupulous scaremongering which is the target of the contempt jurisdiction.”

But, according to a AFP report, the Attorney General’s Chambers maintains “Mr Shadrake’s baseless and unwarranted attacks on the integrity, impartiality and independence of the Singapore judiciary cannot possibly come within any reasonable notion of fair criticism.”

Shadrake’s book contains interviews with local human rights activists, lawyers and former police officers, as well as an interview with Darshan Singh, the long-time chief executioner, now-retired, at Singapore’s infamous Changi Prison. According to the author, Singh executed around 1,000 men and women from 1959 until he retired in 2006.

With a populations of only 5 million people, Singapore has one of the highest execution rates in the world. The government refuses to release actual numbers. They believe that their policy keeps crime rates down.

Donna Guest, Amnesty’s Asia Pacific Deputy Director told the AFP in an earlier report:

“Singapore uses criminal defamation laws to silence critics of government policies. The Singapore government should release Shadrake at once.”

She added: “If Singapore aspires to be a global media city, it needs to respect global human rights standards for freedom of expression; Singapore should get rid of both its criminal defamation laws and the death penalty.”

In a sidebar to this case, as Singapore continues its bid to be a global city, many are watching Yale University to see if the Shadrake decision will affect their plans to open a liberal arts college in Singapore.

According to a post at the Asian Correspondent:

Yale University is in the final stages of discussions with the National University of Singapore to set up a “liberal arts college” in a state not exactly famed for its promotion of academic freedom.

A number of Yale academics have kicked up a stink about the deal, which they fear will boost the university’s coffers at the expense of its reputation for independent academic inquiry.

In a prospectus designed to reassure weary dons, Yale’s president and provost say they were “greatly concerned” by the arrest of Shadrake.

“This gave us reason to inquire even more deeply to understand how free faculty and students would be to express themselves in scholarly publications, in the classroom and on campus,” they wrote.

The Yale administration may have the answer to their question very soon. The High Court is expected to hand down its decision on Wednesday. Shadrake faces fines and two years in prison should he be convicted.