Two men have been detained this month under the Internal Security
Act for two years, the Ministry of Home Affairs said on Friday (Aug
19).
Rosli Hamzah and Mohamed Omar Mahadi separately started tuning in
to Batam-based religious radio station Radio Hang, which sometimes
features speakers who preach extreme religious views.
Both also later encountered radical materials online on their own
and were convinced by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
propaganda.
The men wanted to travel with their family to Syria and die as a
martyr.
Two others were also issued Restriction Orders, limiting their
activities, for their involvement in terrorism-related
activities.
Rosli, 50, a car washer, started listening to Radio Hang, which
sometimes features speakers who preach extreme religious views, in
2009. In 2014, he was introduced to pro-ISIS materials through
social media.
He became interested in armed jihad, and starting sharing radical
material online to motivate others to support ISIS.
Rosli was "prepared to die for the ISIS cause as he thought it
would bring him martyrdom status", the ministry said.
Omar, 33, a waste truck driver, started listening to Radio Hang in
2010. In 2012, he encountered radical online materials by Al-Qaeda
ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki and started reading more pro-ISIS
propaganda.
By 2014, he was convinced it was "his religious duty to become an
ISIS fighter in Syria", the ministry said.
He read an ISIS manual and memorised a pledge of allegiance to take
to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
He was making preparations to go to Syria with his wife and two
teenage children when he was detained.
Omar's wife, Dian Faezah Ismail was one of the two who were issued
Restriction Orders. The 34-year-old Singaporean housewife believed
the terrorist group's violent actions were legitimate and supported
her husband's intentions to join ISIS.
Mohamad Reiney Noor Mohd, 26, a building technician, was also
issued a Restriction Order for two years.
In his search for religious knowledge online, Reiney encountered
ISIS-related materials in 2014. He became convinced by their
propaganda and "aspired to fight for the ISIS 'army'", said the
ministry.
But he set aside the intention to travel to Syria after "he was
admonished by a close relative".
He will undergo religious counselling.
Earlier this month, Indonesian authorities arrested six militants
who had been planning a rocket attack on Marina Bay from Batam. The
six men were members of a little-known terror cell called Katibah
GR, or Cell GR.
In April, eight Bangladeshis were given two-year detention orders
under the ISA for forming and financing a pro-ISIS group.
They had been planning attacks back home in the hope of toppling
the government and bringing Bangladesh under the self-declared
caliphate of ISIS.
The group had a list of targets and bomb-making manuals, and was
raising funds in Singapore to fund acts of terror in their
homeland.
Last year, twenty-seven Bangladeshi workers who were planning
terror attacks back home were arrested. All of them were
deported.
The men were part of a closed religious study group that had met
discreetly every week since 2013, and used the premises of a few
local mosques near where some of them stayed. Most worked here for
between two and seven years.
In July, Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff, 44 (above), was detained under
ISA for two years for promoting terrorist group Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and armed jihad.
He used online platforms to propagate and spread his radical
messages - which included glorifying ISIS and their violent actions
and exhorting Muslims to take up arms in places like the Middle
East, Palestinian territories, Myanmar and the Philippines.
At least two other Singaporeans were radicalised as a result.
In July, a 17-year-old man, who graduated from a madrasah here, was
issued with an Restriction Order (RO) for two years.
He had become radicalised from accessing pro-ISIS videos, websites
and social media.
The ministry said back then: "He became convinced that ISIS'
violent actions were justified and harboured the intention to fight
for ISIS in Syria in the future where he was prepared to die a
martyr. He had sought out other like-minded individuals online, and
also tried to influence his friends with his pro-ISIS views."
In April, Muhammad Fadil Abdul Hamid was detained under ISA for
planning to engage in armed violence. He intended to join a terror
group like ISIS and take up arms in Syria.
This is not his first brush with the law.
Fadil was released from detention in 2012 and placed on a
Restriction Order, which limited his movements and activities. But
he relapsed and was detained under ISA again this year.
In March, Mohamed Mohideen Mohamed Jais, 25, was issued with a
Restriction Order, which limits his activities.
He had performed armed sentry duties while pursuing religious
studies in Yemen.
While he did not encounter a situation where he had to open fire,
he "understood that he had to return fire using the AK-47 assigned
to him, with the aim to kill if there was an incursion by the
Houthis".
In March, Wang Yuandongyi, 23, was placed on a Restriction
Order.
He had left Singapore and was on his way to Turkey and Syria to
join a Kurdish militia group that was fighting against ISIS.
On the request of the Singapore Government, he was located by the
authorities of a third country he had travelled to and turned back
to Singapore.
In August last year, Mohammad Razif Yahya, 27, and Amiruddin Sawir,
53, were detained under the ISA for voluntarily fighting in the
sectarian conflict in Yemen.
Both had been studying in a religious institution there and had
volunteered for armed sentry duties at the school.
Razif went through sniper training, and was equipped with an AK-47
assault rifle and a Dragunov sniper rifle. Amiruddin was also armed
with an AK-47 rifle. Both of them were involved in fighting the
rebels.
- TNP