Hong Kong students protest near Singapore consulate urging Amos Yee's release

SINGAPORE — University students in Hong Kong protested near the Singapore consulate in Hong Kong today (June 30), urging the Singapore government to release teen blogger Amos Yee.

According to Hong Kong media reports, about 50 students from the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, Lingnan and Hong Kong Polytechnic were part of the protest. Singaporean blogger Han Hui Hui was also spotted at the protest.

Student activist group Scholarism, which took part in the protest, published on its website a post titled “In Defence of Children’s Rights Release Amos Yee NOW!”.

The post dated June 29, condemned the Singapore government for “violating” Amos' rights and demanded his immediate release.

Amos, 17, was found guilty of two charges on May 12, namely posting an obscene image featuring late former leaders — former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher — and a video intended to hurt the religious feelings of Christians. He is currently under remand at the Institute of Mental Health for two weeks to assess his suitability for a mandatory treatment order, after it was found that he may have autism spectrum disorder.

The actions taken against Amos "reflects the unreasonable oppression and the very limited acceptance of dynamic voices in the so-called ‘modernised’ society of Singapore”, the post said, adding that there has been "strong condemnation around the globe and worldwide demand for his immediate release”. It pointed out that the United Nations Human Rights Office also called for his immediate release.

Scholarism is made up of both high school students, and the Hong Kong Federation of Students, a 60,000-strong union of university students. The group is led by activist Joshua Wong.

The post went on to say: “Today, we see a young person, like us, voicing against the elite in society, under such unbearable pain and outrageous infringement of rights.”

“Scholarism undoubtedly demands the immediate release of Amos, backed by our solid belief that every individual is born with autonomy, as well as the right to express opinions based on independent thought.”