Amos Yee arrested on Wednesday

SINGAPORE – Teenage blogger Amos Yee, whose online comments on religion prompted police reports to be lodged against him, has been arrested, his former lawyer Alfred Dodwell confirmed. Yee was arrested on Wednesday (May 11), said Mr Dodwell, who was contacted by Yee’s mother seeking help.

In response to media queries, the police said on Thursday that a 17-year-old male Singaporean had been arrested for offences under Sections 174 and 298 of the Penal Code.

Section 174 pertains to failure to attend a session as ordered by public servant, whereas Section 298 involves uttering words with an intent to wound religious and racial feelings. “The offence under section 298 of the Penal Code relates to online remarks made in November 2015 that contained offensive and disparaging remarks against various religious communities,” said a police spokesman.

Yee was ordered to report to a police station for investigations after the police reports were lodged, but he did not do so. “The subject disregarded the notice and left the country shortly thereafter, and remained overseas for a prolonged period until his return in April 2016,” said the spokesman.

Upon his return, he was served with a Warrant of Attendance issued by the State Courts to report again, but failed to do so. The police added that investigations are ongoing.

Mr Dodwell said he has yet to decide if he will represent Yee again. “I will need to know what he’s been arrested for and whether he will be charged,” he said.

In a blog post last November, Yee, 17, had responded to remarks supposedly made by former Nominated Member of Parliament Calvin Cheng and made references to Islam. He was supposed to have gone down to Jurong Police Division on Dec 14 and Dec 22 last year to assist with investigations. But on Dec 15, he claimed to have run away from home, and resurfaced in public at a Singapore Democratic Party by-election rally only last month.

Last week, Yee uploaded a video of the police at his doorstep, presenting him with a warrant for him to appear before the police for investigations on Tuesday.

Yee was convicted last year of hurting the religious feelings of Christians and for posting an obscene image online. He was sentenced to four week’s jail on July 6, but released immediately, as he had spent 50 days in remand by then. A subsequent appeal was dismissed by the High Court.