NAN-F-14
Release
Singapore, April 27, 2017 (dpa/NAN) Lawyers for Singapore teenage blogger Amos Yee on Thursday demanded his release from U.S. prison on humanitarian grounds amid an ongoing appeal by U.S. authorities against his successful bid for political asylum.
Yee’s co-counsel Christopher Keeler from U.S. firm Grossman Law said his client poses no threat to the public and isn’t a flight risk because he is escaping persecution from his home country and is in a high-profile case.
“As such, we believe there is no legitimate reason why he should remain in detention,” Keeler said.
The U.S. government prosecutor, led by chief consul Karen E. Lundgren, submitted a written appeal on April 4 to the Board of Immigration Appeals, Keeler added.
Keeler confirmed that Grossman Law will also be submitting a written memorandum outlining their case.
There would not be oral hearing as such.
The written memoranda will be due by May 11, after which the Board of Immigration Appeals will make its judgment, U.S.-based activist Melissa Chen said.
Chen has been assisting Yee in his asylum case since he arrived in Chicago last December in his bid to file for asylum.
Yee was incarcerated twice in Singapore for publishing material online mocking Christianity and Islam.
He was allegedly on suicide watch for the past two weeks, according to a post on Yee’s Facebook page. (dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Sadiya Hamza