Amos Yee's lawyer Alfred Dodwell filed the notice of appeal with the High Court on Jul 9, ahead of today's (20 Jul) deadline for making an appeal. Amos' lawyers told the media that they are waiting for a date to be fixed for the appeal hearing. In the meantime, his lawyers are working on the grounds of appeal.
Amos was convicted on 12 May and sentenced on 6 Jul, but his jail term was backdated to 2 Jun , when he was already in remand. As he had already spent more than 50 days in remand, he walked free from the court on 6 Jul, the day of the sentencing.
At the sentencing hearing, the prosecution suddenly changed its mind and decided not to press for reformative training for Amos. Previously, the prosecution was adamant that Amos be sent for reformative training because it felt that "a jail term or fine would not have rehabilitative effects" on Amos.
The prosecution told the media in May, "This is clearly a misguided youth who seeks attention by deliberately posting provocative content, who has no insight into his offending behaviour, and who is likely to keep repeating this pattern of conduct."
On 6 Jul, the prosecution agreed to the 4-weeks' jail term because of what it described as a "seismic shift" in attitude on Amos' part. "Amos has admitted to his guilt and promised not to re-offend", said the prosecution, because Amos apparently now "understands issues of law and racial harmony".
Nevertheless, "it is critical to again reiterate that this case is not about freedom of speech or diversity of views", but about the abuse of those freedoms, the prosecution said.
At the time of Amos' release, Mr Dodwell told the media, "Let's not run away with the idea that just because he's remorseful and stuff, that is in relation to the social context. Whether this was a crime or not, still remains a question we want to determine in High Court."
International condemnation against SG government's treatment of Amos.Many people have condemned the Singapore government's handling of Amos' case ('Netizens angry at Govt over Amos' treatment in IMH').
Amnesty International released a statement recognising Amos as a "prisoner of conscience", while the United Nations Human Rights Office called for his release "in line with (Singapore's) commitment under the UN Convention on the Rights of Child" which the country has ratified.
Another NGO, Human Rights Watch (HRW), said, "The Singapore government has demonstrated a shameful disregard for freedom of expression and the rights of the child in the way it has treated Amos Yee. By holding him in remand and other forms of detention for over 50 days, the authorities have seriously abused his rights for simply voicing political opinions not popular with the government — and calling this a 'crime' when his actions should never have been criminalized in the first place."
In a show of solidarity for Amos, about 500 people attended a protest in Hong Lim Park on 5 Jul, one day before his release. One of the speakers, Reverend Miak Siew of the Free Community Church, spoke: Someone from the crowd interrupted me before I started just now – do you forgive Amos Yee? I replied what's there to forgive? What is there to forgive when I am not offended?
Amos is a 16-year-old boy. He just said things we may not agree with, and some of us agree with him but disagree with how he said it. What harm has he caused other than a few ruffled feathers? If we are to be a more resilient society that embraces diversity, then we have to learn how to react in a more mature manner instead of reporting to the police or threatening Amos with violence.
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