MIAMI-Justin Bieber’s trial in Miami for allegedly driving while under the influence has been delayed two months to July 7, a court source told AFP.
A preliminary hearing is now scheduled for June 25 before the July start date, according to the source, with the Miami Herald saying the 20-year-old singer’s lawyers had asked for the delay while they try to reach a settlement out of court.
Bieber’s court appearance had originally been scheduled for March 3, then was postponed until May 5, before the latest delay. The Canadian pop star has pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence of substances, resisting arrest and driving with an expired license after being arrested in Miami Beach on January 23 for taking part in an illegal street race in his Lamborghini.
Police said he had smoked marijuana and taken Xanax tranquilizers. Bieber has had various run-ins with the law recently. He has a hearing May 12 in Canada into accusations he assaulted a limousine driver last year, and was investigated in Los Angeles for allegedly throwing eggs at a neighbor’s house. But the White House recently declined to comment on a petition by 275,000 people that he be deported to Canada.
While one day before, Justin Bieber apologized Wednesday to those he offended by visiting a Japanese war shrine, saying he thought it was a beautiful site and only a place of prayer. The Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo enshrines 2.5 million war dead, including Japan’s 14 convicted war criminals, and operates a war museum that defends Japan’s wartime aggression. It is a flashpoint between Japan and its neighbours that see the shrine as distinct from other Shinto-style establishments mainly honouring gods of nature. China and South Korea in particular see Yasukuni as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism and consider Japanese officials’ visits there as a lack of understanding or remorse over wartime history.
Two images posted on Bieber’s Instagram account were met with outrage from Chinese officials and by commenters on social media. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the pop star should remember China’s position on Yasukuni. I hope this Canadian singer, after his visit, can have some knowledge of the Japanese militaristic history of external aggression and their militaristic thinking,’ he said.
Yasukuni confirmed Bieber visited earlier this week in what appeared to be a personal trip to Japan. A Yasukuni official, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing privacy of a specific visitor, said he strolled in the shrine’s precincts, like other ordinary tourists, and most people didn’t seem to notice.
The two photos, which were subsequently removed, showed Bieber praying outdoors at the shrine and standing beside a Shinto priest. The Yasukuni official said Bieber did not pray in the shrine’s main prayer hall. In a new Instagram post Wednesday evening, Bieber said he asked his driver to stop when he saw the ‘beautiful shrine,’ located in the capital’s central district near Budokan hall, where he performed a concert in 2011.
It’s also near the Imperial Palace and other places tourists visit to see cherry blossoms, though they’ve mostly finished blooming.