By by: Jewel Philemon/
Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has decided not to take any further action against Alan Shadrake, the author of ‘Once a Jolly Hangman‘, following their investigation into offences of criminal defamation and wrongful communication of official secret information.
The police arrested the British author in July 2010, a day after he launched the book which supposedly exposes double standards in Singapore’s use of the death penalty.
In November last year, Mr Shardrake was charged and found guilty of “scandalizing the judiciary” for comments he made in his book.
Mr Shadrake’s appeal against the conviction for contempt of court was dismissed by the Singapore Court of Appeal on 27 May 2011. He was sentenced to six weeks jail and a fine of S$20,000. The author who is 75 years old, started serving his prison sentence on 1 June 2011.
In the hand-delivered letter to the lawyers acting for Mr Shadrake, the AGC said that “although investigations disclose the commission of several counts of the offence of criminal defamation and offences under the Official Secrets Act, these offences arise out of the same matrix of facts” that had been brought against the author for his contempt of court conviction.
As such, the AGC has decided that there is no public interest in commencing further proceedings against the author.
TOC understands that the author will be deported back to Britain immediately after he has served his sentence.
Read AGC’s letter to Mr Shadrake HERE.