SINGAPORE, July 26 (NNN-CNA) — Two Singaporeans have been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for intending to travel to Syria to join the Daesh militant group, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said.
In a press release, the ministry said that the first case involved 36-year-old licensed money changer Kuthubdeen Haja Najumudeen, who had been a follower of Sri Lankan radical preacher Zahran Hashim.
Haja was arrested in May this year.
“Zahran has been identified by the Sri Lankan authorities as the mastermind and one of the suicide bombers involved in the terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka on 21 April 2019 which killed more than 250 people and injured 500 others,” said MHA.
Since 2011, Haja had been listening to Zahran’s online lectures and regularly contacted him for religious guidance. He also made three trips to Sri Lanka between May 2015 and October 2016 to visit the preacher, and donated funds to Zahran and his group, the National Thowheed Jamaath.
Investigations did not surface any indication that Haja was involved in or had prior knowledge of the Apr 21 attacks in Sri Lanka, the ministry added.
Haja developed an interest in Daesh in 2013, when he came across news of the terrorist group online. “Haja harboured a desire to undertake armed jihad in Syria,” said MHA.
The second case involved Suderman Samikin, a 47-year-old former delivery assistant, who was arrested in July.
MHA said Suderman was radicalised after encountering lectures by Anwar al-Awlaki, an “Al-Qaeda ideologue” who is now dead, and Daesh propaganda while searching online in 2013 for information on the Syrian conflict.
Suderman joined a pro-Daesh Facebook group, reportedly created by a Syria-based Daesh fighter, in April 2014.
MHA stated that Suderman was in prison from July 2014 to June 2019 for drug consumption, There, he continued to harbour the intention to join Daesh. He was arrested upon his release.
In a statement on Thursday, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) said it was “regrettable that both individuals fell prey to Daesh influence online … despite the debunking of Daesh’ radical ideologies on mainstream and social media”.
MUIS said the recent cases reinforce the “dangers of seeking religious guidance over the Internet from untrusted sources, particularly those from overseas”. — NNN-CNA
