Singapore court defers sentencing of UK author

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's High Court on Tuesday deferred the sentencing of British writer Alan Shadrake, who has been found guilty of contempt of court for criticising the city-state's judiciary.

High Court Judge Quentin Loh told a hearing that he needed one week to decide how he would sentence Shadrake, 76, whose book on the country's use of the death penalty was deemed to have scandalised the court.

Shadrake's lawyers asked the court for a lenient sentence of censure, while prosecutors asked for a 12-week jail term.

In a written judgement last week, Loh said Shadrake had used a "selective background of truths and half-truths, and sometimes outright falsehoods" in his book, which he said accused Singapore judges of being influenced by executive and diplomatic pressure.

New York-based Human Rights Watch urged Singapore on Tuesday to exonerate Shadrake.

"Singapore is further damaging its poor reputation on free expression by shooting the messenger bearing bad news," said Human Rights Watch's deputy Asia director Phil Robertson.

Singapore, a small island-state of 5 million people, imposes the death penalty for crimes such as murder and a mandatory death sentence for drug trafficking. It boasts of one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

(Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Kim Coghill)