Singapore--A Singaporean teenager facing jail time over a video criticising the late Lee Kuan Yew was remanded in custody for the second time on Thursday, with the drama heightened after he was slapped by a stranger outside the courthouse.
Amos Yee is facing three charges including for actions that hurt religious feelings after he attacked the 91-year-old political patriarch in an eight-minute, expletive-laden YouTube video, and launched a tirade against Christianity.
Yee, 16, was initially remanded at Changi Prison for five days two weeks ago but was bailed out on April 21 with a court order barring him from posting on social media while the case was pending.
But a district court ordered Yee to be remanded at the prison again this week after the teenager refused to comply with bail conditions, prompting his bailor to withdraw.
Yee breached the court order when he uploaded two blog posts on Thursday. One of them slammed the conditions for his bail while another accused his father of physical abuse.
Vincent Law, a Christian youth counsellor who had bailed the teenager out, withdrew as a bailor on Thursday after the latest developments, Yee's lawyer Alfred Dodwell said.
In his video, Yee compared Lee, Singapore's founding prime minister, to Jesus, saying "they are both power-hungry and malicious but deceive others into thinking they are compassionate and kind".
AFP
