Two Singaporeans — a man and a woman — have been arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for their involvement with terrorism-related activities, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on Thursday (Sept 7).
Imran Kassim, a 34-year-old managing director of a logistics firm, was given a detention order for undertaking armed violence overseas, while 23-year-old administrative assistant Shakirah Begam Abdul Wahab was issued a restriction order for initiating and maintaining contact with foreign terrorist fighters.
MHA’s statement explained that Imran had been radicalized by the propaganda of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS); he had been prepped to either attack Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel in the global coalition against ISIS, or take them as hostages to demand a random from the Singapore government so the money could go to the militant group’s finances.
Imran had apparently attempted to travel to Syria to join the group at least twice. In February 2014, he flew to Syria to supervise the delivery of humanitarian aid to a refugee camp arranged by his company, but ended up unsuccessful in his attempts to escape from his hosts unnoticed. In July that same year, he pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by taking the bai’ah.
Since May, Imran had also wanted to join the pro-ISIS militant groups that invaded Marawi City in the Philippines.
Imran was also actively garnering support for ISIS online, posting propaganda material with his different personas on numerous social media accounts. It was his radical and pro-militant stance that drew the attention of the people close to him, who reported his activities to the authorities.
As for Shakirah, her involvement began in 2013, when she learned of the Syrian conflict from media reports. MHA said she had “actively initiated” online contact with a foreign terrorist fighter in the conflict zone, and expanded her online contacts over time.
The ministry added that her actions were not because she had been radicalized, but because she enjoyed the attentions of the fighters. She stopped contacting them early last year, but continued to keep herself updated of the developments in Syria.
Due to Shakirah’s “propensity to engage in risky behavior”, MHA said she was placed on restriction order to prevent her from making contact again and to give her counseling and rehabilitation.
In other news, two Singaporeans — Amiruddin Sawir, 54, and Muhammad Harith Jailani, 20 — have been released from detention and issued with restriction orders. They had been detained in August 2015 under the ISA, and their detention orders expired in August this year.
“While in detention, Amiruddin and Harith have been cooperative and shown good progress in their rehabilitation. As such, they were assessed to no longer pose a security threat that required preventive detention,” said MHA.
A restriction order against 60-year-old Singapore Jemaah Islamiyah member Samad Subari, who was detained in July 2011 and put on restriction order in July 2013, was also allowed to lapse in July this year. MHA said he longer required supervision, as he had been cooperative and responsive to rehabilitation efforts.
