Singapore: Teen blogger Amos Yee jailed six weeks over religious insults

Singapore teen blogger Amos Yee, center, speaks to reporters while leaving the Subordinate Courts after being released on bail, Tuesday, May 12, 2015, in Singapore. Pic: AP

29th September 2016 

A SINGAPORE court sentenced controversial teenager Amos Yee with six weeks’ jail on Thursday for “wounding the religious feelings of Christians and Muslims”.

After pleading guilty to the charge, the 17-year-old was also ordered to pay a S$2,000 fine for failing to turn up at a police station to give his statement despite being given two notices,Channel News Asia reported.

“(Yee) is not lacking in his mental capacity to make rational choices in the way he conducts himself,” Principal District Judge Ong Hian Sun was quoted as saying, adding that he “deliberately elected to do harm by using offensive and insulting words and profane gestures to hurt the feelings of Christians and Muslims”.

The judge, who described Yee’s remarks as “contemptuous” and “irreverent”, said his conduct should “not be tolerated” as it undermined religious harmony in the city-state.

Judge Ong also said he hoped the punishment would serve as a deterrent for Yee from committing such offenses. He said the sentence was not overly harsh.

SEE ALSO: The court’s quagmire: How to deal with Amos Yee?

“Hopefully we will not have (Yee) appearing again in this court for the same offence in the future,” the judge said.

In July last year, Yee was jailed for four weeks after being convicted for the same offence. After repeatedly breaching bail conditions, he spent a total of 50 days behind bars in Singapore.

The maximum sentence for intending to wound religious feelings is three years and a fine for each charge or both, while failing to show up at a police station was punishable by one month jail, or a fine of up to S$1,500 per charge or both.

According to the Straits Times, Yee admitted putting a photo and two videos online, between April 17 and May 19, with the “intention of wounding Muslim feelings”.

SEE ALSO: Amos Yee manipulates mainstream media with molestation allegations 

Yee’s guilty plea had brought the end to his month-long trial. He had represented himself in court

He was initially faced with eight charges, which he denied. Two of them were for failing to turn up at a police station and six for wounding religious feelings, the Straits Times reported. However, Yee pleaded guilty to two charges on Aug 23.

Following the sentence, Reuters quoted deputy director of Human Right Watch’s Asia division, Phil Robertson, as denouncing the government’s action against Yee.

SEE ALSO: Singapore teen Amos Yee charged for YouTube video attacking Lee, Christianity
“By prosecuting Amos Yee for his comments, no matter how outrageous they may have been, Singapore has unfortunately doubled down on a strategy that clearly violates freedom of expression,” Robertson said.

“For a country that prides itself on efficiency, Singapore should re-examine its approach, because every time the authorities go after him, it just adds to his online audience who are interested to find out the latest thing,” he said.