Infamous teenage angst poster boy Amos Yee appeared in State Courts today following his arrest on Sunday after several police reports were lodged against him over posting an expletive-laden YouTube video attacking the country’s late founding leader Lee Kuan Yew and Christianity.
In the clip — which has since been deleted from his YouTube account but uploaded onto other channels — Yee tirades for over eight minutes against the late Lee Kuan Yew, comparing him to Jesus Christ, alleging both to be “power-hungry and malicious but deceive others into thinking there are compassionate and kind”.
Amos Yee, a slight student with a thick mop of hair, smiled and fidgeted as charges were read to him in a district court. Three charges were brought against the 16-year-old today under Sections 298 and 292(1)(a) of the Penal Code as well as Section 4(1)(b) of the Protection from Harassment Act, according to Channel NewsAsia.
Yee, who at 16 is old enough to be tried as an adult, was already known in the local YouTube community for humorous postings and a small role as a child actor in a Jack Neo comedy movie called We Not Naughty.
The charges stated that Yee’s video “contained remarks against Christianity, with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of Christians in general”.
Yee was also charged with circulating on his blog an obscene object — a graphic cartoon of Lee with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher -— as well as making threatening, abusive or insulting communication under the city-state’s newly enacted Protection from Harassment Act.
The charge under the Protection from Harassment Act stated that his video “contained remarks about Mr Lee Kuan Yew which was intended to be heard and seen by persons likely to be distressed” by the clip.
Yee’s bail has been set at $20,000 under the condition that does not post, upload or distribute comment or content online while the case against him is ongoing.
Outside the courtroom, his teary-eyed father clasped his hands and told reporters: “I would like to take this opportunity to say very sorry to PM Lee”.
In an online petition to the Singapore government on activist website change.org, petitioners who described themselves as Christians have called for Yee’s release. It had garnered more than 1,500 supporters by Tuesday afternoon.
“Please release Amos Yee. We forgive him and desire he have a full life of contribution to his community ahead of him,” read the letter.
But others criticised Yee’s actions.
“Please Amos, be rational and not be rash. There’s nothing worse than causing distress to ur (sic) family,” wrote Gladys Elizabeth Dee on the Yahoo! Singapore Facebook page.
If convicted, Yee faces up to three years in jail, a fine, or both for the first charge of deliberately wounding religious or racial feelings.
For circulating obscene content, he faces up to three months in jail, a fine or both, and a fine of up to $5,000 under the harassment law enacted last year.
But his son later smiled and waved to reporters as they left the court building.
A pre-trial conference has been fixed for Apr 17.
With AFP
Photo: AFP News / Roslan Rahman
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