The mother of 16-year old video blogger, Amos Yee, says her son, who is being held at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), has not been eating well the past two days.
Mdm Mary Toh, who visits her son three times a week, also says Amos Yee is suffering mental stress from the environment he is in.
The teenager is being remanded at block 7 of the institution, which is believed to be the remand ward for those with suspected mental illness and the criminally insane.
Mdm Toh is thus asking her son’s lawyers to request the court to release Amos Yee on bail as soon as possible.
“Amos pleaded [with me] to get him out, “ Mdm Toh told The Online Citizen (TOC). “He can’t stand even another day in there. He said prison is better than IMH.”
Mdm Toh says her son has also lost weight from his loss of appetite and inability to have good sleep.
“It is really mental torture to him,” she says. “He is very scared seeing those faces,” she added, referring to the other patients in the ward.
“They walk past his cell, threaten to beat him up… Shouting at him from far…”
Amos Yee is scheduled to appear in court on Monday, 6 July, for sentencing.
He is being assessed for two weeks at IMH for suitability for a Mandatory Treatment Order (MTO), after an earlier assessment for suitability for rehabilitation found that he could be suffering from autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
The teen was charged and found guilty of posting a video online criticising Singapore’s late prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, which is deemed to have also “wounded the religious feelings of Christians”, at a time when the funeral of the former prime minister of Singapore was taking place.
In the past two weeks, several international organisations, including the United Nations and Amnesty International, have called for the teenager’s release.
Protests in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia have also been held to call for the same.
On Sunday, the Community Action Network (CAN), a Singaporean non-governmental organisation, is holding a rally to add its voice to the call.
The event will take place at Hong Lim Park, Singapore’s only free space for protests and demonstrations.
Details are here: #FreeAmosYee event.
