SINGAPORE, May 12 (UPI) -- A Singaporean teenager arrested for criticizing the late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was found guilty Tuesday of obscenity and wounding religious feelings.
Amos Yee's disparaging remarks about Lee came days after Lee passed away from severe pneumonia. The BBC reported Yee also posted an obscene cartoon of Lee and Margaret Thatcher -- and pleaded "not guilty" to all charges.
But Singapore acquitted Yee of a third charge, reported The Straits Times, that accused the 16-year-old of making an online video containing offensive remarks about Lee.
Singapore prosecutors said Yee needs counseling and probation, and agreed to reduce the bail to $7,487 from a previous $22,462.
Related
Yee also has been banned from blogging and posting online content.
"I don't know if I should celebrate my release or mourn my sentence," Yee said after a bailout from his parents.
The BBC reported Yee had a good number of supporters, with mostly middle-aged and retired Singaporeans waiting for the verdict.
Not all in Singapore are enthusiastic about Yee's challenge to censorship in Singapore.
On Monday, a 49-year-old man slapped Yee as the teenager made his way to a court hearing. The man was sentenced to three weeks in jail.
Hay Hung Chun, the prosecutor, said, "[Yee's] actions show him to be a misguided young man who sought to gain attention for himself by deliberately posting obscene material to shock and deliberately posting material he admits he knew would cause ill will among Christians."
Human Rights Watch has condemned the guilty verdict and said Yee's conviction "[runs] contrary to international human rights standards and are a dangerous affront to freedom of expression."
