Amos Yee offered bail as prosecution completes preliminary investigations

Amos Yee Pang Sang was offered bail of S$10,000 on Thursday (Mar 26) at his first court reappearance since being charged under the Enlistment Act about a week ago, after the prosecution indicated that preliminary investigations had been completed.

The shift is notable. At his initial appearance on March 20, Deputy Public Prosecutors Tay Jia En and Chong Kee En had applied for Yee to be remanded for investigations, and no bail was offered. Thursday's hearing reversed that position, with DPP Tay asking for bail to be offered along with several conditions.

Yee, 27, appeared via videolink wearing a white shirt and sporting long hair, CNA reported. When asked if he intended to plead guilty, he said he would like to think about the matter — a notable shift from last week, when he indicated he would not be engaging a lawyer.

The charges against Yee cover two distinct periods. He is accused of leaving Singapore without valid exit permits from December 13, 2015 to April 19, 2016 — before he was granted asylum in the United States in 2017 — and again from December 15, 2016 to March 19, 2026. He also faces a charge of failing to report for pre-enlistment medical screening from April 26, 2016 to March 19, 2026.

Yee was arrested by Central Manpower Base Enlistment Inspectors at Changi Airport on March 20, after being deported from the United States the previous day.

He first left Singapore in 2016 following a series of legal run-ins. In 2015, then 16, he was jailed for wounding religious feelings by making remarks about Christians. He was jailed again and fined about a year later for similar remarks targeting Christians and Muslims.

Yee was granted asylum in the US in 2017. He later pleaded guilty in December 2021 to possession of child pornography and grooming a minor, and was sentenced to six years in prison.

He was granted parole midway through his sentence but was returned to custody for violating parole conditions. In November last year, he was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement following his release from the Danville Correctional Center in Illinois, and subsequently deported to Singapore.

Under the Enlistment Act, NS defaulters face a maximum penalty of three years' jail and/or a fine of up to S$10,000 upon conviction. With three charges, Yee faces those penalties for each count.