Amos Yee bailed out by counsellor; gets 3 lawyers

AMOS Yee left remand at Changi Prison, where he spent the last four nights, after a family and youth counsellor posted the 16-year-old's $20,000 bail yesterday.

The teenager, whose online rant against Christianity landed him in trouble, smiled and waved to cameras as he walked out of the State Courts at 7pm with his mother by his side, and his father following some distance behind.

Just an hour before that, he was escorted to the bail centre in handcuffs and leg shackles.

Last Friday, his parents had decided against posting bail for Yee after new bail conditions were set.

But 51-year-old Mr Vincent Law came forward in the hope that the youngster would be willing to be counselled by him, explaining that Yee may "respond better to a third party".

Mr Law, a former director at non-government group HealthServe, added: "I'm a Christian and I'm stepping up to say that I'm not offended.

"I'm also a parent and I feel for his parents."

At his bail review earlier, Yee went from being unrepresented to getting the services of three pro bono lawyers.

Mr Alfred Dodwell told District Judge Ronald Gwee that he and Mr Chong Jia Hao - both from Dodwell & Co - and Mr Ervin Tan from Michael Hwang Chambers were representing Yee.

Mr Dodwell told reporters that he got in touch with Yee's parents two days ago.

Yee was charged on March 31 with several offences, including attacking Christianity in a YouTube video.

As part of his bail, he agreed not to post anything online until his case is decided.

But last Tuesday, when asking for donations on his blog and Facebook page, he put up links to the offensive videos and posts that led to him being charged in the first place.

Last Friday, the judge set fresh bail conditions, including making the YouTube video private, reporting to Bedok Police Station each day at 9am, and taking down the new links.

The "Donate to help Amos Yee" post was no longer available yesterday, and it is believed Yee took it down before leaving court.

Mr Dodwell said banning Yee from posting on the Internet was too restrictive and he was looking to challenge this.

He and his legal team will meet Yee today for further instructions.

The teen's next pre-trial conference has been set for April 30.

amirh@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on April 22, 2015.
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