Amos Yee is finally out of remand at Changi Prison after his bail was posted, and he now has three lawyers working pro bono for him following his appearance at State Courts yesterday for a bail review.
The 16-year-old has been in remand since last Friday because his parents refused to post bail for him. He was charged in court on Mar 31 for uploading online materials that contained remarks against Christianity and also offended many with his anti-Lee Kuan Yew rant, as well as uploading an obscene image of the late founding prime minister.
The pre-trial conference last Friday handed out three new conditions under the court bail, after he allegedly breached his initial police bail conditions when he posted an appeal for funds on his blog. He will have to make his offending YouTube video and blogposts private, as well as report to an Investigation Officer at Bedok Police Station every day at 9am.
In court yesterday, he was released from remand after 51-year-old youth and family counsellor Vincent Law posted bail for him, Channel NewsAsia reports. Mentioning the fact that he is Christian and a parent, Law came forward to post the $20,000 bail to show that he was not offended by Yee’s posts and that he hopes to counsel the teenager.
The three pro bono lawyers — Alfred Dodwell and Chong Jia Hao from Dodwell & Co LLC and Ervin Tan from Michael Hwang Chambers LLC — were also present in court yesterday. Speaking to reporters, Dodwell remarked that they were offering their services for free as Yee is a 16-year-old boy and everyone needs legal representation. Though they did not condone or approve of his actions, they felt that he needed proper legal representation and advice on the three charges he currently faces.
Yee has been cooperative so far, immediately agreeing with his lawyers to pull down the offensive posts.
His parents were also present yesterday, but did not respond to reporters about why they did not post bail.
Yee’s pre-trial conference has been moved to Apr 30.
Photo: Channel NewsAsia
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