6 Bangladeshis 1st in SG to face terrorism financing charge

QX179R SG

Six Bangladeshis are first in Singapore to face terrorism financing charge

SINGAPORE: Six radicalised Bangladeshi nationals who were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in April this year are the first to be prosecuted under the Terrorism (Supression of Financing) Act.

The six men – Rahman Mizanur, Mamun Leakot Ali, Miah Rubel, Zzaman Daulat, Md Jabath Kysar Haje Norul lslam Sowdagar, and Sohel Hawlader lsmail Hawlader – were charged in court on Friday (May 27), "for providing and/or collecting money for terrorist purposes", said a police statement.

Of the six, two – Miah Rubel and Md Jabath Kysar Haje Norul lslam Sowdagar – will also be charged for possession of property for terrorist purposes under the same Act.

Five of the six men told the court they intended to plead guilty, and they are expected to do so in a court hearing next Tuesday (May 31).

One, Mamun Leakot Ali, denied the charges, and his case will be heard in a pre-trial conference on June 9.

The six were part of a group of eight plotting to establish an Islamic state in Bangladesh, according to a statement by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on May 3.

The group – which called itself Islamic State in Bangladesh – was set up by 31-year-old S-Pass holder Rahman Mizanur in March this year.

The rest of the group members – whose ages range from 26 to 34 – are work permit holders. All of them were working in the local construction and marine industries.

Based on investigations by MHA, the group had identified several possible attack targets in Bangladesh, and possessed documents on weapons and bomb making. They also had significant amount of ISIS and Al Qaeda radical material, and planned to recruit other Bangladeshi nationals working in Singapore to grow their group.

MHA said it had also seized funds the group had raised to buy firearms to carry out their planned terror attacks in Bangladesh.

- CNA/ll

QX179R SG

4 radicalised Bangladeshis plead guilty to financing terrorism; another denies charges

SINGAPORE: Four radicalised Bangladeshi nationals pleaded guilty on Tuesday (May 31) to providing or collecting money to fund terror attacks in Bangladesh, while another is contesting the charges against him.

The four – Rahman Mizanur, Miah Rubel, Md Jabath Kysar Haje Norul Islam Sowdagar and Sohel Hawlader Ismail Hawlader – pleaded guilty to between one and two counts each of providing or collecting hundreds of dollars to be put towards facilitating terror attacks in Bangladesh.

They are expected to be sentenced on Jun 21.

Ringleader Mizanur, 31, pleaded guilty to two of four charges against him. The remaining two charges will be taken into consideration during sentencing.

Mizanur had set up the group – which called itself Islamic State in Bangladesh – in March this year after developing a "liking" for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The court heard Mizanur had tried to join ISIS thrice, but was unable to obtain a visa allowing him to travel to Turkey and Algeria. He travelled to Singapore to find work instead, and recruited at least eight men, three of whom pleaded guilty alongside him on Tuesday.

The prosecution said that Mizanur's dream is still to join ISIS and become a mujahideen fighter to destroy disbelievers' activities through an armed struggle.

The group met regularly at Boon Lay Park and Waterfront Park in Woodlands to discuss waging an armed jihad to fight against non-believers. They agreed that when they returned to Bangladesh, they would "find and kill" non-believers, the prosecution told the court.

In January 2016 at a void deck in Sembawang, Mizanur, Jabath, Rubel and Daulat had sworn an oath that they would follow Abu Bakar al-Bagdadi, the leader of ISIS, until their deaths, the court heard.

In another meeting in March 2016, Mizanur distributed an organisation chart to his followers, detailing the roles and responsibilities of each member.

The men, who earned between S$900 and S$1,800 a month, had also agreed to contribute part of their salaries to buy arms and weapons to wage an "armed jihad", the prosecution said.

ONE MORE CONTESTS CHARGES

Another of the accused, Zzaman Daulat, denied the charges against him on Tuesday, despite indicating last week his intention to plead guilty.

Daulat, who was the “security council” of the group, said he did not know the money he contributed would be used for terrorism activities.

Addressing the court via an interpreter, he said: "I contributed S$200 but I did not know how the money would be spent. I did not know the money would be spent for terrorism."

A sixth man – Mamun Leakot Ali, who took over as leader of the group after Mizanur was arrested in March – had denied the charges against him at a hearing last week.

Court documents state Mamun had instructed Hossain Shamim to hand S$500 to Mizanur, representing the leftover funds that had been collected from the previous group of 27 radicalised Bangladeshi nationals detained last year and who have since been repatriated.

Shamim has since left the country, Channel NewsAsia understands.

The cases of Mamun and Dulat have been fixed for a pre-trial conference on Jun 9.

The men, employed in the local construction and marine industries, had intended to join Islamic State as foreign fighters, but upon realising it would be difficult to travel to Syria, focused their plans closer to home, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had said.

Based on investigations, the group had identified several possible attack targets in Bangladesh, and possessed documents on weapons and bomb-making, as well as ISIS and Al Qaeda radical material, MHA said. The group had also planned to recruit other Bangladeshi nationals working in Singapore, it added.

If found guilty of financing terrorism, the men could be jailed up to 10 years, fined up to S$500,000 per charge, or both.

Another two men who are also part of Mizanur's group, Sohag Ibrahim and Islam Shariful, both 24, will be dealt with separately. They were listed as witnesses in the case on Tuesday morning against the five men.

- CNA/cy