ABC foreign correspondent Peter Lloyd has vowed to stay in Singapore to face drug charges that could put him in jail for 20 years.
While there have been calls for him to run, Lloyd, 41, told The Sun-Herald: "I've never ever considered attempting to flee. I will remain in Singapore."
In his first interview since being charged with trafficking and possessing drugs, he revealed he had been suffering traumatic flashbacks and nightmares after covering the region's tragedies, such as the Bali bombings and the tsunami.
These had left him too afraid to sleep, a phobia which peaked in the two months leading up to his July 16 arrest, he said.
Lloyd - who separated from wife Kirsty McIvor six months ago and declared himself gay - faces a maximum sentence of 20 years and 15 strokes of the rattan cane for allegedly selling 0.15 grams of ice for $A76 to a Singaporean man at the York Hotel on July 9.
Police also allegedly found 0.41 grams of the methamphetamine on him, along with utensils bearing traces of ice and the veterinary drug Special K, when he was arrested at Mount Elizabeth Hospital a week later. He was based in New Delhi but was in Singapore to seek treatment for an eye infection.
On Saturday, he said he did not have a wild or risk-taking personality and the infection was "in no way connected with drugs".
Lloyd - who is yet to enter a plea - is due back in court next Friday.
The Sun-Herald revealed that Lloyd has signed up a former leading Singapore prosecutor, Hamidul Haq, to his defence team.
A legal source said prosecutors were "scraping the bottom of the barrel" to find new charges to make an example of Lloyd.
"Recreational drugs are not accepted and anything to do with it [the Singapore government] will come down like a ton of bricks," the source said.
Some commentators have suggested Lloyd should jump bail and run. The legal source said if he did he would never be able to return to Australia due to an extradition agreement between the countries.
"If I were to jump, I would not go to a country with a treaty. I should go to Indonesia or Thailand. I have seen some people do it," he said.
