Singapore police have arrested a British author of a book about the city-state's use of the death penalty.

新加坡警方逮捕了一位英国作家，该作家著有一本关于新加坡政府使用死刑的书籍。

Alan Shadrake has written a book about Singapore's use of the death penalty

Alan Shadrake, 75, is being detained on criminal defamation¹（诽谤，中伤） charges which carry a two-year prison sentence.

However, the government says the book - which includes an interview with a former hangman（刽子手） - has not been banned.

Mr Shadrake told reporters before his arrest that he was expecting trouble when he went to Singapore on the weekend to promote his book.

"If they do anything, it'll just draw more attention to it all, and they have no defence," he told AFP news agency.

Expecting trouble

Mr Shadrake's book, Once a Jolly Hangman - Singapore Justice in the Dock, includes an interview with Darshan Singh, the former chief executioner at Singapore's Changi Prison, who has since retired².

It also includes interviews with human rights activists⁴, lawyers and former police officers.

But the attorney general's office says the book casts doubt on the impartiality⁵（公正，公平） , integrity and independence of Singapore's judiciary（司法制度） .

It wants to add contempt of court（蔑视法庭） charges to the criminal defamation investigation⁶ that police say is already under way.

The government told the BBC last week that the book had not been banned but that the government had the right to advise book stores not to stock it.

The death penalty is mandatory⁷（强制的，命令的） in Singapore for murder, treason（叛国罪） , drug trafficking and other crimes.

Officials say it has been a key factor in keeping the crime rate low.

Human rights monitors have long criticised the government however for using defamation suits to stifle⁸（扼杀，窒息） political opposition⁹.

Separately, Singapore has banned a movie made by a local film-maker about a human rights activist³, saying the film was not in the public interest.

Martyn See's film about former political detainee Lim Hock Siew features Mr Siew making a rare public speech about why he believes he was unfairly jailed.

He was detained from 1963 for two decades as part of an operation that the government said was to end communist influence in Singapore.