Amos Yee's court hearing fixed for Thursday and Friday

Amos Yee, the teenager who was charged with attacking Christianity, transmitting an obscene image and making an online video which included offensive remarks about the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, will appear in court on Thursday morning for a two-day trial
Amos Yee, the teenager who was charged with attacking Christianity, transmitting an obscene image and making an online video which included offensive remarks about the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, will appear in court on Thursday morning for a two-day trial. -- ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

SINGAPORE - Amos Yee, the teenager who was charged with attacking Christianity, transmitting an obscene image and making an online video which included offensive remarks about the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, will appear in court on Thursday morning for a two-day trial.

The hearing dates were fixed at a pre-trial conference held behind closed-doors on Monday afternoon.

Yee viewed the proceedings via video-link from Changi Prison, where he is being held in remand, said Mr Ervin Tan, one of three lawyers representing him.

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Mr Tan said it is was a tight timeline to prepare for a two-day trial.

"We do not wish to see him spend more time in remand than is necessary," the lawyer added.

The teenager was charged in court on March 31 with the three offences. The prosecution will be proceeding with charges of him attacking Christianity and transmitting an obscene image. It has, for now, stood down the last charge, meaning it could be heard later.

Yee was first remanded on April 17 after the judge at a pre-trial conference converted the $20,000 police bail that he had been on to court bail, requiring bail to be reposted. But his parents decided against posting bail.

He was later bailed out by family and youth counsellor Vincent Law who was hoping that the teen would be willing to be counselled.

Yee was sent back to remand in Changi Prison on Thursday, after Mr Law decided to discharge himself. He had told The Straits Times that he was forced to do this because Yee had refused to comply with bail conditions.

Yee had posted on his blog and Facebook page, breaching bail conditions that disallowed him from doing so.

Last Wednesday, he wrote two blog posts titled "The Ridiculous Terms of my Bail" and "My Abusive Father". He shared them on his Facebook page the next morning.

During his pre-trial conference, which was held in chambers later that afternoon, judge Kessler Soh had asked Yee to take down his latest posts, but he refused.

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