UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, warned [press release] on Monday that the upcoming trial in Singapore of a teenage blogger is a sign of increased criminalization of expression. The trial is scheduled this week for a 17 year-old blogger who posted to Facebook content that allegedly “wounded the religious feelings of Muslims and Christians.” If convicted at the trial in which he will defend himself, the teenager will face up to three years in jail. The UN Special Rapporteur asserted that the trial is contrary to international human rights law because (1) the trial concerns a lawful expression and (2) the teenager is considered a child under international human rights law. The UN expert expressed that “only serious and extreme instances of incitement to hatred” are to be prohibited as criminal offenses under international human rights law, even if the expression is disturbing, offensive or shocking.

Singapore has faced growing international concerns about its human rights practices. Last month JURIST guest columnist Stephen Cooper, former DC public defender, discussed [JURIST op-ed] with JURIST the harshness of the death penalty in California, Singapore and other places. In May Singapore police officials announced [JURIST report] the hanging death of a man allegedly complicit in the death of another. In July of last year a Singapore court released [JURIST report] a 16-year-old video blogger who had been jailed after posting images and videos insulting the country’s first prime minister. In January 2015 a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights voiced [JURIST report] concern over the continued use of the death penalty in Southeast Asia as punishment for drug-related crimes.