75 year old British author Alan Shadrake has been jailed for six weeks and fined 20,000 Singapore dollars ($15,000) for publishing a book critical of executions in Singapore.
The book, titled "Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock", unearths the disturbing truth about Singapore's use of the death penalty.
Prosecutors representing the attorney general's office had demanded a 3-month jail term for Shadrake.
Shadrake offered an apology last week but stood by the claims made in his book. Judge Quentin Loh dismissed the apology as "nothing more than tactical ploy in court to obtain a reduced sentence." He ruled the journalist will have to serve an additional two weeks in prison if he fails to pay the fine.
"A fine should be imposed to prevent Mr Shadrake from profiting from his contempt [of court]," the judge said.
Shadrake has admitted one minor innacuracy in his book but insists the rest is "devastatingly accurate".
"They know the book is accurate, which is why they're going to all this trouble," he said.
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