Singapore blogger jailed again for ‘insulting religion’

By Kirsten Han

SINGAPORE (AA) - A little over a year after he first made headlines, teen blogger Amos Yee has once again been handed a prison sentence in Singapore for wounding religious feelings.

The 17-year-old was sentenced to six weeks in jail and handed a S$2,000 (nearly $1,500) fine after he pleaded guilty to eight charges: six for wounding the feelings of Muslims and Christians, and two for failing to turn up for interviews with the police.

If Yee fails to pay the fine, he will be required to spend a further 10 days behind bars.

"He has, on several occasions, deliberately elected to do harm by using offensive and insulting words and profane gestures to hurt the feelings of Christians and Muslims,” local newspaper The Straits Times reported Principal District Judge Ong Hian Sun saying.

“His contemptuous and irreverent remarks have the tendency to generate social unrest and undermine the religious harmony in our society," the judge added.

Yee's trial, which began in August, saw the teen representing himself before the court.

He pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to show up at the police station despite receiving notice Aug. 23, the third day of his trial. The next day, he admitted to three charges of wounding religious feelings. He pleaded guilty to the remaining charges Wednesday.

Speaking on Yee's behalf at the sentencing hearing, The Straits Times reported defense lawyer N Kanagavijayan saying, "[Yee] admits that he does not possess any religious, scholastic and/or intellectual ability to discuss religion. No religious leaders of the Christian and Muslim faiths have come forward to say that their religious feelings have been affected."