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Tag: Internal Security Act

  • Another ISA Detention: 24 Year Old AETOS Officer Planned To Undertake Armed Violence In Syria

    Another ISA Detention: 24 Year Old AETOS Officer Planned To Undertake Armed Violence In Syria

    An auxiliary police officer who was deployed to Woodlands Checkpoint has been detained for planning to travel to Syria to take part in armed violence, while his colleague has been put under a restriction order for supporting him.

    Muhammad Khairul Mohamed, 24, an auxiliary police officer at the traffic enforcement division at Woodlands Checkpoint, was arrested in May and detained under the Internal Security Act, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Tuesday (Jun 20).

    He was deployed by AETOS, the second-largest of three licensed auxiliary police organisations in Singapore, to the checkpoint as an outrider. His duties did not require him to be armed, MHA said.

    Khairul became radicalised as early as 2012 – prior to joining AETOS in May 2015 – when he went online to gather more information about the conflict in Syria after reading about it on mainstream media.

    “He developed the view that the conflict in Syria was a sectarian struggle between Sunni Islam and Shia Islam, and being a Sunni Muslim, he wanted to fight against the Shi’ites in Syria by joining the Free Syrian Army,” the ministry said.

    The Free Syrian Army (FSA) is a group founded by defectors of the Syrian Armed Forces, whose aim is to use armed violence to overthrow the Syrian government led by President Bashar Al-Assad, who is backed by the minority Shia Alawite sect.

    Khairul perceived the Syrian conflict to be a holy war in which he was prepared to die in battle as a martyr and receive “divine rewards”, MHA said.

    In 2014, he tried to reach out to a foreign militant on Facebook, as well as two other individuals whom he believed to be FSA supporters, to find out how he could make his way to Syria.

    At the time of his arrest, Khairul was still interested in joining FSA or any other militant groups operating in Syria and engage in armed violence there, the ministry said.

    “His readiness and proclivity to resort to violence in pursuit of a religious cause makes him a security threat to Singapore,” it said.

    The ministry also reiterated that friends or relatives of a person who may be radicalised or intends to undertake acts of violence should report him to the authorities.

    In the case of Khairul, several relatives and friends knew of his intentions but none of them came forward, MHA said.

     

    Source: www.channenewsasia.com

  • Father Of First Female ISA Radicalism Detainee Regrets Not Reporting Her

    Father Of First Female ISA Radicalism Detainee Regrets Not Reporting Her

    The father of the first woman detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) regrets not reporting his daughter to the authorities.

    Mr Syaikh Abdu Manaf Al Ansari told Berita Harian last night that he and his wife had questioned Syaikhah Izzah Zahrah Al Ansari in late 2014, after noticing she had started dressing in black and wearing the niqab, a facial veil which reveals only the eyes. She was also using the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) flag as her WhatsApp display picture, he said.

    “I asked if she was an ISIS member. She denied it but said she thought ISIS was fighting for Islam,” said Mr Manaf, 49.

    “I told her all well-known Islamic scholars reject ISIS. I asked, is it halal in Islam to kill innocent people, children and women? I told her to show me evidence from the Quran and sunnah (prophetic teachings) that it is halal. She just kept silent.”

    Mr Manaf and his wife, both Quranic teachers, gave Izzah – the second of five children – religious advice, and decided not to inform the authorities after she stopped wearing the niqab and started listening to music and watching films again.

    “We thought she was okay. But we did not realise she had become more radical. She was smart at hiding herself,” he said.

    After Izzah was arrested, he found documents in her room with information about moving to Syria, including how to get tickets.

    He felt “disgust and anger” and, in a bid to “protect her”, threw the materials away. He told the authorities about them only during the investigation, and was given a warning.

    “This should not have happened. I really regret it,” he said.

    He advised the public to contact the authorities or the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG), which helps to counter radical ideology, if they notice suspicious changes in their loved ones. “To other parents, this comes from the bottom of my heart. If you see any sudden changes, et cetera, contact the authorities. If not (the authorities), contact RRG,” he said.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Pihak Polis Siasat Bantahan Dalam MRT Yang Berlalu Pada Sabtu Lalu

    Pihak Polis Siasat Bantahan Dalam MRT Yang Berlalu Pada Sabtu Lalu

    Aduan polis sudah dibuat terhadap bantahan yang diadakan di dalam kereta api pada hari Sabtu (3 Jun) dan pihak polis mengesahkan bahawa ia sedang menyiasat aduan tersebut.

    Bantahan itu diadakan bagi menentang penahanan yang berlaku 30 tahun lalu di bawah Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA).

    Pada Mei 1987, 22 orang ditahan di bawah Operasi Spectrum dan dituduh terlibat dengan pakatan Marxis untuk mewujudkan sebuah negara komunis.

    Menyusuli pelancaran sebuah buku pada bulan lalu oleh bekas tahanan bagi menandakan ulang tahun penahanan mereka, para aktivis mengadakan bantahan secara aman di Laluan Utara-Selatan dengan menutup mata mereka dengan kain sambil memegang buku “1987: Singapore’s Marxist Conspiracy 30 years on”.

    Aktivis sosial Jolovan Wham turut mengongsi gambar-gambar mengenai bantahan itu di Facebooknya, yang kini tersebar online.

    Pihak polis menyatakan,” Sesiapa yang mempunyai sebarang maklumat boleh menghantarkannya online di www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. Semua maklumat akan dirahsiakan.”

     

    Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

  • Review ISA – Government Must Enact New Laws To Prevent Singaporeans From Fighting Overseas

    Review ISA – Government Must Enact New Laws To Prevent Singaporeans From Fighting Overseas

    R1c

    I am very concerned by the arrest of the four Singaporeans under the ISA (Internal Security Act). I read and re-read and the more i read, the more concerned I become. I feel that it is wrong for this four people to be detained under ISA.

    I know ISA was created a long time ago. I found this from here.

    An Act to provide for the internal security of Singapore, preventive detention, the prevention of subversion, the suppression of organised violence against persons and property in specified areas of Singapore, and for matters incidental thereto.

    [16th September 1963]

    Whereas action has been taken by a substantial body of persons to cause a substantial number of citizens to fear organised violence against persons and property:

    And Whereas action has been taken and threatened by a substantial body of persons which is prejudicial to the security of Malaya:

    And Whereas Parliament considers if necessary to stop or prevent that action:

    You see this part…..”prevention of subversion, the suppression of organised violence against persons and property in specified areas of Singapore, and for matters incidental thereto.”

    In Singapore. Where did all these people go? They were overseas or on the way overseas. 3 of them were in Yemen and the Chinese guy was on the way to Syria. Which part of Yemen or Syria is in Singapore?

    I am not condoning what they have done or saying that they should not have been arrested. However, i feel that what they do is not covered under ISA. Am I correct to say that? So far MHA hasn’t mentioned that the four of them wanted to carry out attacks in Singapore. They did not carry a direct threat to Singapore. So why were they detained under the ISA?

    It is different last time with the JI (Jemaah Islamyah). JI very clear cut want to carry out attacks in Singapore…Yishun MRT was one of the places right? Even if JI targeted foreigners, Singaporeans would also become victims. Lives were at stake and properties would have been damaged.

    The communists were also like that. People lost their lives during a period of sustained turmoil. Singapore become topsy-turvy because of the communists. They were subverting unions and students and it was chaos. In this case, it was appropriate for the perpetrators to be dealt with using the ISA. It is very clear-cut.

    But I disagree that they use ISA for these four people.

    I urge the authorities to stop their crutch-mentality with the ISA. Cannot everything also use ISA.

    ISA is draconian and is not in keeping with current situations. What they should do is review the ISA immediately. If they want to stop Singaporeans from fighting overseas, they must enact new laws which are effective and whose scope covers the acts carried out by the four people.

     

    Isa

    Reader Contribution

     

  • Teo Soh Lung: Releases And Arrests Under The ISA

    Teo Soh Lung: Releases And Arrests Under The ISA

    Yesterday’s press releases (27 May 2015) of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) are depressing. Three men were released from indefinite imprisonment under the Internal Security Act (ISA) a year ago, but it is only now that we are made aware this.

    The three men were:

    1. Mohamed Rashid bin Zainal Abidin, arrested in May 2006. He was released on 26 May 2014 with restrictions;

    2. Sahrudin bin Mohd Sapian arrested in January 2012. He was released with restrictions on 24 February 2014; and

    3. Mohamed Rafee bin Abdul Rahman, arrested in January 2012. He was released with restrictions on 24 February 2014.

    The three were released in February 2014 and May 2014. Why did the MHA take more than a year to inform us of their release? Are we not entitled to know what the MHA does with ISA prisoners? Who and how many people have they arrested and for how long do they need to remain in prison? By keeping silent about arrests, imprisonment and releases of prisoners, the MHA behaves like a state sanctioned clandestine organisation.

    The ISA is an unjust law. Prisoners are not charged and tried in open court. There is no judicial review for ISA cases. Release of ISA prisoners depend on the whims and fancies of the executive who may or may not rely on the reports of the ISD. The threat of indefinite imprisonment instils great fear in prisoners. Behind the four walls of the prison, they are quickly forgotten by the public. In Singapore, we do not have human rights organisations or religious organisations who demand updates on the well-being of prisoners. Even the United Nations is not able to extract any information from the MHA. The Justices of Peace who allegedly visit prisoners at regular intervals are not answerable to the public. They merely play the role of do-gooders and do not check the excesses of the government.

    The MHA now informs us that Mohamed Rashid bin Zainal Abidin who was arrested in 2006 was released in 2014, a period of eight long years. Why was he imprisoned for so long? We hear from the MHA that JI or Jemaah Islamiyah has faded and it is now the era of ISIS. So why was he imprisoned for eight long years? MHA owes the public an explanation, not just the two liner alleging that Rashid was a “JI member who had undergone terrorist training in south Philippines. He was released from detention and placed on Restriction Orders (RO) on 24 Feb 2014.”

    Sahrudin bin Mohd Sapian and Mohamed Rafee bin Abdul Rahman were both released after two years. Both men had allegedly undergone terrorist training and were JI members.

    Why was the release of these three men kept a secret for more than one year?

    And what about the following prisoners?

    1. Haji Ibrahim bin Haji Maidin arrested in December 2001.
    2. Alahuddeen bin Abdullah, arrested in October 2002.
    3. Mohd Aslam bin Yar Ali Khan, arrested in December 2002.
    4. Mas Selamat bin Kastari, rearrested in September 2010.
    5. Abdul Rahimbin Abdul Rahman, arrested in February 2012.
    6. Husaini bin Ismail, arrested in May 2012.
    7. Abdul Basheer s/o Abdul Kader, rearrested in September 2012.
    8. Asyrani bin Hussaini arrested in March 2013.
    9. Masyhadi bin Mas Selamat, arrested in October 2013.

    Let us hope that those imprisoned today will not suffer imprisonment for 32 years as Dr Chia Thye Poh did and that the government will in the meantime, look after their material and psychological well-being as well as that of their families. I hope the government will not let the families suffer poverty as they did to thousands of others in earlier decades.

    New Arrests under the ISA

    In another press release of the same date, the MHA announced the arrests of two young people – M Arifil Azim Putra Norja’s, aged 19 and an unnamed youth, aged 17. They were arrested under the ISA in April and May 2015 respectively.

    Is there no other law that can deal with young people other than the ISA? Is there no Muslim organisation that can help these youths, if they are indeed misguided? What about the existing Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) and the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS)? Cannot the MHA seek their assistance instead of taking such draconian action and giving them a lifetime black label?

    The arrest of these two young people reminds me of the hundreds of youths arrested between 1954 – 1987. Many of them were students and could not continue their studies after imprisonment. Unlike those times, Singapore today is a developed country. Why is it that we are still not able to handle young people without using the ISA?

    Young people are the future of Singapore. How we treat the young reflect the maturity of our society. As I have said before, the government made a mess of Amos Yee. Are they making another mess with these two young people? MUIS and RRG should do their best to intervene in these arrests. The effect of indefinite imprisonment without trial under the ISA is not to be taken lightly.

    I hope the government will re-examine its decision to use the ISA against these two young people. The ISA is not to be used lightly and worse, on our young.

     

    Teo Soh Lung

    Source: Function 8