Teenage blogger jailed in Singapore for criticizing Muslims and Christians
Amos Yee, a Singaporean teen blogger, was sentenced to six weeks in jail last Thursday for his controversial posts critical of Muslims and Christians.
Yee, 17, was found guilty for six charges of "wounding religious feelings" and two other charges for not appearing at a police station when he was summoned. He pleaded guilty to five of the charges. He was also ordered to pay the fine of 2,000 Singaporean dollars.
"He has, on several occasions, deliberately elected to do harm by using offensive and insulting words and profane gestures to hurt the feelings of Christians and Muslims," the principal district judge Ong Hian Sun wrote in a court document.
In a phone interview with CNN, Yee stated that he thought that the sentence was fair. He said that he will continue his commentaries but he would not be breaking the law.
"I think that if I do continue to make critical social media posts I'll post things that aren't illegal," Yee said. "I think that will be possible."
Yee's lawyer, Nadarajan Kanagavjayan, also believes that the teen blogger got a fair sentence. He has advised his client not to file an appeal.
"Given our situation and practices in Singapore, Amos' sentence is very fair because you must also remember that this isn't the first time he brushes the law," Kanagavjayan told CNN.
Yee is scheduled to begin his sentence on Oct. 13. He has already been jailed in 2015 for four weeks when he criticized Christianity and insulted Singapore's first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew. The presiding judge hoped that Yee would not reappear in court for similar infractions.
Officials from the U.N. Human Rights Council, the E.U. and representatives from various human rights groups were present at Yee's trial.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Right Watch in Asia, has criticized Singapore for violating the freedom of expression. He urged Singaporean authorities to reconsider its approach when dealing with similar cases.
"Every time the authorities go after him, it just adds to his online audience who are interested to find out the latest thing," Robertson stated, as quoted by Reuters.
