Category: Agama

2 Self-Radicalised Singaporean Youths Arrested, Detained Under ISA

A Singaporean youth has been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for terrorism-related activities since April this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced on Wednesday (May 27).

Additionally, another youth was arrested in May under the ISA for further investigations into the extent of his radicalisation.

The youth detained since April, M Arifil Azim Putra Norja’i, a 19-year-old post-secondary student, is the first known self-radicalised Singaporean to harbour the intention to carry out violent attacks in Singapore, said MHA.

Investigations showed that he had made plans to join the terrorist group, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and that his radicalisation began around 2013 when he started viewing terrorist propaganda online, said MHA.

The ministry said Arifil then grew to support the radical ideology and violent tactics of ISIS, and befriended individuals online whom he thought could help him join the terrorist group. Arifil also actively surfed the Internet for information on travel routes to Syria so that he could engage in armed violence there, and had done research on making improvised explosive devices.

Arifil also revealed that if he was unable to join ISIS in Syria, he intended to carry out violent attacks in Singapore, said MHA. He had put “considerable thought” into how he would attack key facilities and assassinate Government leaders. If he was unable to carry out these plans, Arifil planned to carry out attacks in public places “in order to strike fear within our society”, using “easily available” weapons such as knives, added the ministry.

His intentions to carry out violent attacks were subsequently corroborated by several persons who said he had tried to recruit them to help carry out these plans, according to the MHA. Investigations showed that while these people did not fall prey to Arifil’s attempts to recruit them, they also did not alert the authorities about him, it added.

“Fortunately, another person who knew Arifil noticed the changes in him, and had brought him to the attention of the authorities, who were then able to investigate the matter and take action before he could carry out his violent attack plans in Singapore,” said MHA.

The ministry added that another radicalised Singaporean post-secondary youth, 17, was arrested in May under the ISA for further investigations into the extent of his radicalisation. His family was informed of his arrest, and will be kept informed of the outcome of the investigations.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Teo Chee Hean said Singapore faces real threats from radicalisation, similar to other countries.

“Our community leaders have worked hard to counter radical ideology. And we should all, from all communities in Singapore, support one another. … All of us must play our part. If you know or suspect anyone who is becoming radicalised, please notify the authorities early,” Mr Teo said.

“You may be helping to save that person from harming himself and others. And our security agencies will do their utmost to detect and prevent any terrorist attacks.”

FAMILY, FRIENDS PLAY ROLE IN PREVENTING RADICALISATION

The ministry said the two young Singaporeans who have been radicalised demonstrate that youth in Singapore can become radicalised too, in particular through the internet.

The ministry said that family members, friends, colleagues and members of the public have an important role to play in protecting fellow Singaporeans from radicalisation and engaging in terrorist activities.

“This should be done early, so that Singaporeans at risk of becoming radicalised can be provided proper guidance, supervision and religious instruction, and be saved. Religious institutions and teachers also have an important role to play in engaging young Singaporeans when they have questions on religious matters, and steering them in the right direction,” said the MHA.

It added that anyone who knows or suspects that a person is radicalised should promptly call the ISD Counter-Terrorism Centre hotline 1800-2626-473 (1800-2626-ISD).

“This could save such individuals and allow them to be helped and counselled, so that they are prevented from engaging in violent activities that may cause harm to themselves and others,” said the MHA.

THREE JI MEMBERS RELEASED

The MHA also announced in a separate release that three Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members were released in February and May this year after they were “assessed to no longer pose a security threat that required preventive detention”.

The JI members are Sahrudin Mohd Sapian, Mohamed Rafee Abdul Rahman and Mohamed Rashid Zainal Abidin, it said.

Sahrudin and Rafee were JI members detained under the ISA in February 2012. They had undergone terrorist training in Afghanistan in 2000, and both men were released from detention and placed on Restriction Orders (RO) on Feb 24, 2014, said MHA.

The ministry added that Rashid, who was detained under the ISA in May 2006, was a JI member who had undergone terrorist training in south Philippines. He was released from detention and placed on RO on May 26, 2014.

Additionally, the ROs against four JI members and one self-radicalised individual were allowed to lapse between June 2014 and April 2015. The JI members were Ab Wahab Ahmad, Syed Ibrahim, Ibrahim Mohd Noor and Jahpar Osman, while the self-radicalised individual was Muhammad Thahir Shaik Dawood.

“All five men had been cooperative and responsive to rehabilitation efforts,” said MHA.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

May 27, 2015
Austria Convicts 14 Year Old Boy For Links With ISIS

14-year-old boy from Austria who downloaded bomb-making plans onto his Playstation games console was sentenced to a two-year jail term on Tuesday after pleading guilty to terrorism charges, a court spokeswoman said.

As well as researching how to build a bomb, the boy made contact with militants supporting the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria, prosecutors said ahead of the trial. Sixteen months of the sentence were suspended.

AFP Photo

The boy, a Turkish national, will serve what remains of the eight-month custodial term in a juvenile detention centre, the spokeswoman for the regional court in Sankt Poelten said. He had been briefly placed in investigative custody in October on suspicion of terrorism-related activity, before being conditionally released.

AFP Photo

He was detained for a second time in January. He had faced up to five years in jail for supporting a terrorist organisation and planning an attack. Those charges were based on data found on the boy’s Playstation, including bomb-building plans downloaded from the internet, prosecutors said.

More than 200 people have left Austria to fight in the Middle East, some 30 of whom have been killed while around 70 have returned, according to the interior ministry. In a separate case, a court in Vienna on Tuesday acquitted a 16-year-old girl accused of preparing to join a jihadi terrorist organisation, according to a court spokeswoman.

Source: www.dnaindia.com

May 27, 2015
Malaysia Mass Graves: Villagers Tell Of Immigrants Emerging From Secret Camps

The residents of Wang Kelian sensed something was amiss when a number of people stumbled on to their streets, weak and injured, and began to beg for food and water.

“They would walk into my shop, with injuries covering their hands and feet. Some were just too weak to even speak properly,” said Lyza Ibrahim, who runs a food stall in the town on the northern Malaysian border with Thailand.

“One asked me, ‘[Is this] Malaysia?’ Then he pointed in the other direction, said ‘Thailand’ and shook his head to signal that he was not wanted there.”

Wang Kelian is an unassuming settlement but it has been thrust into the global spotlight this week after the discovery in nearby jungle of dozens of secret camps used by people smugglers and nearly 140 grave sites.

Police say some of those graves contain multiple bodies – raising the terrible prospect of hundreds of unexplained deaths. On Tuesday Malaysian authorities began the grim task of exhumation.

Some of the campsites included wooden pens, some with barbed wire and guarded by sentry posts. In one pen, police found several parts of a decomposed body.

The camps appear to be part of a complex of bases stretching into Thailand on what had been a well-established route smuggling mostly Rohingya people from Burma and Bangladesh.

But the trade has been in chaos since early May, when Thai authorities launched a crackdown after the discovery of mass graves on their side of the border.

Thousands of migrants headed for Thailand started landing elsewhere in south-east Asia. And as the smugglers fled their jungle hideouts, migrants were spotted in Wang Kelian.

Ibrahim said she had seen several migrants, whom she believed to be Rohingya, and heard stories about many others, including that they would go to a nearby mosque to ask for help.

Others echoed her story. Another woman said she had spotted a Bangladeshi migrant wandering in the area and knocking on her neighbour’s door.

“It is very sad. We have been hearing these stories, but we can’t do much,” said the woman, who declined to give her name. “We could only offer food, clean clothes, but we have to call the police and they will be taken away by the police after that.”

Malaysian officials acknowledged the camps had been around for some time but defended themselves against criticism that no action was taken earlier. Authorities had previously vehemently denied there were any such sites in the country.

“We have been building up intelligence and information,” the national police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar, told reporters on Monday, vowing tough action against any Malaysians involved.

But anti-trafficking groups said the latest discovery came as little surprise and would cast an even harsher spotlight on Malaysia, which was listed as ‘tier three’ by the US State Department’s annual human-trafficking report, the worst ranking for countries which are failing to stop the trade.

“There were stories about these camps that went back nearly 10 years,” Matthew Friedman, the former chief of the UN inter-agency project on human trafficking, told the Guardian. He now heads the Mekong Club, which campaigns against slavery in Asia. “We passed the information on to the local authorities, but there was no follow-up.”

A report in 2009 by the US Senate committee on foreign relations found that “a few thousand” Burmese migrants had become victims of extortion and trafficking once they were deported across Malaysia’s border with Thailand.

In addition, it said there were questions about the “level of participation” of government officials in Malaysia and Thailand.

Villager Mahyuddin Ahmad said he has seen migrants in Wang Kelian for the past two years but more had been spotted in the past month – the largest group being about 10 people, including women and children.

The 55-year-old businessman, who said he had given food such as instant noodles and clothes to migrants, added: “It is a common sight here. We didn’t suspect anything because we thought they just come from Thailand.

“So we are really shocked to hear what the police revealed yesterday about the grave sites and jungle camps.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

May 27, 2015
Myanmar Lulus Undang-Undang Rancang Keluarga Etnik Rohingya

NAYPYIDAW (MYANMAR), Selasa – Etnik muslim Rohingya terus ditekan kumpulan pelampau Buddha dengan terbaru, dihalang menghantar anak ke sekolah, tidak boleh membuat perjalanan di antara kampung ke kampung, dan memulakan perniagaan kecil.

Kerajaan Myanmar memberi tempoh sehingga 31 Mei ini sebagai tarikh akhir kepada warga Rohingya untuk menyerahkan ‘kad putih’ yang diberi sebelum ini.

“Tiada pergerakan bermaksud tiada perniagaan, tidak ada peluang untuk kehidupan yang lebih baik, tiada wang.

“Ia akan menyebabkan keadaan menjadi terdesak dan akan melarikan diri,” kata Shwe Maung, salah seorang daripada dua anggota Parlimen dari etnik Rohingya.

Etnik minoriti Muslim Rohingya juga berdepan dengan undang-undang perancangan keluarga baru yang telah ditandatangani oleh Presiden Thein Sein beberapa hari yang lalu.

Undang-undang baru itu menarik kemarahan beberapa kumpulan hak asasi dan aktivis di seluruh dunia.

“Kami berkongsi kebimbangan bahawa rang undang-undang ini boleh memburukkan lagi perpecahan etnik dan agama,” kata Timbalan Setiausaha Negara Amerika Syarikat, Antony Blin Ken.

Kekejaman pelampau Buddha terhadap muslim Rohingya semakin teruk sejak akhir-akhir ini sehingga memaksa etnik minoriti itu melarikan diri dengan bot kecil, meminta pertolongan dari negara Asia lain.

Penghijrahan terdesak di laut itu telah menyebabkan ratusan mati dan beribu-ribu terkandas, menyebabkan satu krisis pelarian paling teruk di dunia dalam beberapa dekad.

Pelampau Buddha terus menerus menanam kebencian agar memerangi umat Islam Rohingya, yang turut disokong kerajaan kerajaan apartheid Myanmar.

“Mengapa mereka sanggup lari ke laut dengan bot? Mengapa mereka mengambil risiko mati di laut? Kerana kewujudan mereka (pelampau Buddha), dan masa depan yang buruk,” kata Penny Green, Pengarah Inisiatif Jenayah Antarabangsa dari Queen Mary University of London.

Rohingya disenaraikan oleh PBB sebagai etnik paling tertindas di dunia.

Selain berdepan ‘penghapusan etnik’, mereka juga dinafikan hak kewarganegaraan sejak pindaan undang-undang negara itu pada tahun 1982 yang menyebabkan mereka dilabel pendatang haram di negeri sendiri.

Kerajaan Myanmar dan juga majoriti Buddha enggan mengiktiraf istilah “Rohingya”.

Antara 2012 dan 2013, serangan Buddha telah mengakibatkan ratusan muslim Rohingya terbunuh dan 140,000 lagi dipindahkan dari rumah mereka.

Source: www.ismaweb.net

May 27, 2015
Local Study: Fasting During Ramadan Improves Blood Sugar Levels In Diabetics

A team of experts here has found that fasting during Ramadan can help to improve blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. This is especially so if patients adjust their medications during the this period.

The study, led by Associate Professor Joyce Lee and graduate student Ms Melanie Siaw from the department of pharmacy at the National University of Singapore, looked at 153 patients before, during and after Ramadan three years ago.

The study was done after over 5,000 patients in a local chronic disease database showed improving blood glucose control during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim year during which fasting is observed from sunrise to sunset.

Patients in the latest study were given questionnaires on their diet and physical activity while blood tests were done to determine blood sugar levels at specific times.

Those with type two diabetes can safely do so as long as their diabetic medications are adjusted beforehand, to prevent abnormally low blood sugar levels, said Prof Lee.

This year, Ramadan – traditionally a time of prayer and abstinence for Muslims – falls on June 18.

Prof Lee said that the next step would be to develop guidelines so doctors can tell diabetic patients how much medication they need to take during the fasting period. Such guides are available in places such as the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, but not in Singapore.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

May 27, 2015