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Singapore: 17-yr-old blogger jailed a 2nd time over critical religious comments 

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Singapore: 17-yr-old blogger jailed a 2nd time over critical religious comments 
For the second time, a 17-year-old blogger based in Singapore has been sentenced to jail for “wounding religious feelings” with his comments.

Amos Yee will now spend the next 6 months in jail and it is the second jail term for the teenager who was convicted on similar charges last year.

Yee pleaded guilty to six charges of deliberately posting comments on the internet critical of Christianity and Islam.

Judge Ong Hian Sun told the district court that Yee’s actions could “generate social unrest” and should not be condoned.

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His latest month-long trial was attended by officials of the UN Human Rights Council and the European Union, and was also closely watched by rights groups.

“By prosecuting Amos Yee for his comments, no matter how outrageous they may have been, Singapore has unfortunately doubled down on a strategy that clearly violates freedom of expression,” Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Right Watch’s Asia division, said in an email.

“For a country that prides itself on efficiency, Singapore should re-examine its approach, because every time the authorities go after him, it just adds to his online audience who are interested to find out the latest thing,” he said.

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