Assault on Amos Yee draws sharp criticism

SINGAPORE — After breaching the conditions of his bail by blogging, and a dramatic slap in the face delivered by a stranger as he made his way to his court hearing, Youtuber Amos Yee found himself back in remand today (April 30), his bailor having decided to discharge himself.

The 16-year-old now also faces two charges instead of three. He was charged last month with making offensive or wounding remarks against Christianity and the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, and with circulating obscene imagery, but the charge concerning remarks against Mr Lee have been dropped.  

A day before his pre-trial conference (PTC) held in chambers today, Amos had posted twice on his blog, in defiance of his bail conditions, which required him not to upload or distribute any content online before his case is concluded.

During the PTC, District Judge Kessler Soh had asked Amos to take down the two posts — one complaining about his post conditions and one a rant against his father — but Amos refused.

The judge also raised the bail amount from S$20,000 to S$30,000, while imposing the same bail conditions as before — that he did not upload or distribute any content online before his case is concluded, and that he report to Bedok Police Station at 9am daily.

However, no one, including Amos’ parents, came forward to post bail, while youth and family counsellor Vincent Law, who had posted bail for him last week even though he had never met Amos, applied to discharge himself.

Mr Law later told reporters that he decided to discharge himself a bailor because Amos “refuses to abide” by the bail conditions.

Bail is intended to ensure that an accused person returns to court for hearings. A show cause hearing will be held to decide whether Mr Law will have to forfeit the S$20,000 bail he had posted last week. During the show cause hearing, Mr Law will have to explain to the court why the bail money should not be forfeited. No date has been set for the hearing.

The hearing today attracted supporters of Amos, among them blogger Roy Ngerng, who was seen chatting with him. As Amos made his way into the courthouse, a man in an orange shirt strode towards him, reached out and slapped Amos hard on the face, before taunting the teenager to sue him and running off.

(Video: Raymond Wong/ Channel NewsAsia)

Amos’ lawyer Alfred Dodwell said that Amos’ parents will be making a police report on the slapping incident. Law Minister K Shanmugam also weighed in, saying in a Facebook post that the incident was unacceptable, and that he hoped that Amos’ attacker will be caught quickly.

“Amos made some statements which are offensive to Christians. He is being charged for that and for an obscenity related issue,” Mr Shanmugam said. “People may have strong feelings about Amos (or anyone else who is charged). But we have to leave it to the courts to deal with them. Taking the law into one’s own hands cannot be condoned.”

The minister added in the Facebook post, that rule of law means respecting the legal process.  “If everyone starts taking the law into his or her own hands, then we will no longer be a civilised society. I hope that the attacker will be caught quickly, and is dealt with appropriately.

Mr Dodwell, one of three lawyers representing Amos, told reporters after the hearing that Amos will most likely be remanded until the trial. A PTC will be held on Monday (May 4) to set a date for the trial.  

Deputy Public Prosecutor Hay Hung Chun said that the prosecution had proposed for the trial to be expedited, so that the matter can be heard at the earliest possible time.

If convicted of making remarks wounding the feelings of Christians, Amos, who is being tried as an adult, faces up to three years’ jail, a fine, or both. For circulating obscene imagery, he could be jailed up to three months, fined, or punished with both.