News.com.au, 1 Jun 2011A 76-year-old British writer who published a book denouncing judicial hangings in Singapore started a prison term today for contempt.
Alan Shadrake, who wrote about the use of hanging to execute drug traffickers and murderers in the city-state, turned himself in at the High Court.
On Friday he lost his appeal against a six-week sentence, the toughest ever imposed in Singapore for contempt.
Shadrake could not afford to pay a Sg$20,000 ($15,175) fine on top of the prison term, resulting in another two weeks in jail, taking the term to eight weeks in total. He could be released earlier for good behaviour. Full story
