Amos Yee to spend six weeks in jail and pay fines after pleading guilty to charges of "wounding religious feelings".
A court in Singapore has sentenced a 17-year old blogger to six weeks in jail after he pleaded guilty to six charges of "wounding religious feelings" of Muslims and Christians.
Amos Yee was also ordered on Thursday to pay $1,400 in fines for two charges of defying police orders to show up for interviews and, instead, fleeing Singapore.
Presiding judge Ong Hian Sun said Yee had "deliberately elected to do harm" in a photograph and two videos he posted online that were said to have "offensive and insulting words and profane gestures to hurt the feelings of Christians and Muslims".
The judge, while saying Yee's actions could "generate social unrest", hoped he would not appear in court for similar offences again.
Yee, who was accompanied by his mother, described the sentence as "very fair".
"I am very remorseful", he said outside the court, surrounded by a handful of supporters.
Yee first made headlines in March 2015 when he was arrested after publishing a rant on YouTube criticising Christianity and Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, shortly after his death.
Yee, who will begin his sentence on October 13, is a known atheist and has been posting his beliefs on his social media channels.
Watched by monitors
Yee's latest month-long trial was attended by officials from the UN Human Rights Council and the EU, and was closely watched by rights groups.
"By prosecuting Amos Yee for his comments, no matter how outrageous they may have been, Singapore has unfortunately doubled down on a strategy that clearly violates freedom of expression," Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Right Watch's Asia division, said in an email.
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| Yee first made headlines with online rants against Lee Kuan Yew after is death |
A court in Singapore has sentenced a 17-year old blogger to six weeks in jail after he pleaded guilty to six charges of "wounding religious feelings" of Muslims and Christians.
Amos Yee was also ordered on Thursday to pay $1,400 in fines for two charges of defying police orders to show up for interviews and, instead, fleeing Singapore.
Presiding judge Ong Hian Sun said Yee had "deliberately elected to do harm" in a photograph and two videos he posted online that were said to have "offensive and insulting words and profane gestures to hurt the feelings of Christians and Muslims".
The judge, while saying Yee's actions could "generate social unrest", hoped he would not appear in court for similar offences again.
Yee, who was accompanied by his mother, described the sentence as "very fair".
"I am very remorseful", he said outside the court, surrounded by a handful of supporters.
Yee first made headlines in March 2015 when he was arrested after publishing a rant on YouTube criticising Christianity and Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, shortly after his death.
Yee, who will begin his sentence on October 13, is a known atheist and has been posting his beliefs on his social media channels.
Watched by monitors
Yee's latest month-long trial was attended by officials from the UN Human Rights Council and the EU, and was closely watched by rights groups.
"By prosecuting Amos Yee for his comments, no matter how outrageous they may have been, Singapore has unfortunately doubled down on a strategy that clearly violates freedom of expression," Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Right Watch's Asia division, said in an email.
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