- Title: Singapore court sends teen blogger back to jail for criticising religion
- Date: 29th September 2016
- Summary: SINGAPORE (SEPTEMBER 29, 2016) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF FAMILY JUSTICE COURTS SINGAPORE BLOGGER AMOS YEE'S LAWYER, NADARAJAN KANAGAVIJAYAN WALKING PAST YEE CROSSING ROAD YEE WALKING INTO COURT PEOPLE WAITING AT COURT VARIOUS OF YEE AND KANAGAVIJAYAN WALKING OUT OF COURT WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMOS YEE'S LAWYER, NADARAJAN KANAGAVIJAYAN SAYING: "He's not going to appeal against the sentence, it's a very fair sentence." (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGAPORE BLOGGER AMOS YEE, SAYING: "Yeah, very fair, very pretty good." (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGAPORE BLOGGER AMOS YEE, SAYING: "What kind of message? That you can be sent to jail for criticizing Islam in Singapore even if you're a kid, so." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGAPORE BLOGGER AMOS YEE, SAYING: "Oh, no, no, no, no, really remorseful, very remorseful for this, so yeah, very remorseful." YEE CROSSING ROAD
- Embargoed: 14th October 2016 06:19
- Keywords: Amos Yee blogger jail religion Islam Singapore freedom speech
- Location: SINGAPORE
- City: SINGAPORE
- Country: Singapore
- Topics: Crime
- Reuters ID: LVA00151MAZID
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS WHITE FLASHES TO SEPARATE SOUNDBITES
A Singapore court sentenced 17-year-old blogger Amos Yee to six weeks in jail on Thursday (September 29) for "wounding religious feelings", the second jail term for the teenager who was convicted on similar charges last year.
Yee pleaded guilty to six charges of deliberately posting comments on the internet critical of Christianity and Islam.
His case has reignited concerns about censorship and social controls in the Asian financial hub and drew criticism from human rights organizations.
Judge Ong Hian Sun told the district court that Yee's actions could "generate social unrest" and should not be condoned.
Yee told reporters outside the court that he felt the sentence was "very fair" and was asked what kind of message it gave.
"What kind of message? That you can be sent to jail for criticizing Islam in Singapore even if you're a kid, so," he said.
He was also asked whether he would continue to push the boundaries of Singapore's laws.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, really remorseful, very remorseful for this, so yeah, very remorseful," Yee said.
Yee was convicted on charges of harassment and insulting a religious group last year for comments he made about former premier Lee Kuan Yew and Christians soon after Lee's death. His sentence then amounted to four weeks in jail he had already served.
His latest month-long trial was attended by officials of the UN Human Rights Council and the European Union, and was also closely watched by rights groups. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
