A 16-year-old vlogger in Singapore whose YouTube videos criticized the country’s president and the Christian faith has been found guilty on two counts, the country’s Straits Times reports.
Amos Yee now awaits sentencing for the crimes of making remarks intending to hurt Christians’ feelings and for uploading an obscene image.
In a video uploaded March 27, Lee skewers Singaporeans for mourning Lee Kuan Yew, the “father of Singapore,” a three-decade prime minister of the country who both oversaw prosperity and order and spoke ill of the Democratic process.
“He was a dictator,” Yee says in the video. Knowing that he could be prosecuted under current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, he says, “I’m not afraid,” and “come at me, motherfucker.”
Yee went on to compare Lee with Jesus, saying both are “power-hungry and malicious, but deceive others into thinking they are compassionate and kind.”
The next day, Yee uploaded the obscene image—a photoshopped picture of Lee having sex with former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Free-speech groups, like the Committee to Protect Journalists, have, of course, slammed Yee’s arrest as censorship.
Yee’s bail is set at $10,000. He likely will received mandatory counseling rather than jail time. Deputy Public Prosecutor Hay Hung Chun said that “it is clear that neither a sentence of a fine nor a term of imprisonment would be suitable in the circumstances,” preferring counseling instead, the Straits Times reported.
Illustration by Max Fleishman