Teenage blogger Amos Yee is set to appear in court on Tuesday morning after spending three weeks in remand. He will find out if he is suitable for reformative training.
The 16-year-old had been found guilty on May 12 of making remarks intending to hurt the feelings of Christians in a video as well as uploading an obscene image.
District Judge Jasvender Kaur had called for a report on June 2 to assess if Yee is physically and mentally suitable for reformative training.
Yee was found guilty of deliberately hurting the feelings of Christians in the YouTube video, which criticised Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. The obscene image had the faces of Mr Lee and former British premier Margaret Thatcher superimposed on it.
The prosecution had called for Yee to be sent for reformative training, as he had not cooperated with his assigned probation officer.
The defence, however, argued this was a disproportionate punishment for Yee’s offence.
On Monday, the United Nations Human Rights Office for South-east Asia called for Yee’s immediate release.
In a statement, the Bangkok-based Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) urged the Singapore Government to review his conviction. It also asked that prosecutors drop their demand that Yee be sentenced to a stint at the Reformative Training Centre (RTC).
Reformative training is a rehabilitative sentencing option for young offenders aged under 21 who are found to be unsuitable for probation.
A stint at RTC lasts between 18 and 30 months, and includes structured rehabilitation programmes, foot drills, and counselling. Offenders will not have contact with adult prison inmates.
Although Yee has been in remand for three weeks without access to any telecommunications devices, his Facebook page has been constantly updated since last Thursday.
The posts, the origins of which remain unclear, centre largely around his grievances towards life in Changi Prison, such as the lack of sunshine or privacy in his cell.
Source: www.straitstimes.com
