The courts were unusually quiet today during Amos Yee’s pre-trial conference, as neither Yee, his parents or his main counsel, Alfred Dodwell, were present at the State Courts.

Ervin Tan, one of the three lawyers representing Yee, was the only defence counsel in court. Yee attended the pre-trial conference via video link from remand. His parents were not in attendance.

The lull was in stark contrast to the drama last Thursday, where Yee was slapped by an unknown assailant while he was heading to the State Courts. Yee had on Thursday morning broke the conditions of his bail for the second time, and his bailor, Vincent Law, discharged himself.

Yee will be tried for two charges under the Penal Code for distributing obscene imagery and causing feelings of religious enmity in a YouTube video and a blogpost.

Tan confirmed that a third charge involving his comments on Lee Kuan Yew will be stood down, but did not say when Yee will go on trial for the charge.

The prosecution had the discretion to stand down the charge, according to Tan. Law Minister K Shanmugam had in a Facebook post last Thursday announced that the public prosecutor would stand down the charge. In response, Yee’s lawyer Alfred Dodwell had told socio-political site theonlinecitizen that he wanted "all three charges to go ahead".

Tan added that both the prosecution and defence "did not wish to see” Amos Yee "spend more time in remand than necessary.”

The first day of the two-day trial is set to occur on Thursday, May 7 morning.

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