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Tag: Muhammad Shamin Mohamed Sidek

  • Philippines Arrest Top Female IS Recruiter, Ex-Wife Of Radicalised Singaporean

    Philippines Arrest Top Female IS Recruiter, Ex-Wife Of Radicalised Singaporean

    MANILA: Philippine security forces have arrested a 36-year-old Filipino woman suspected of recruiting, via social media, fighters from around the world for the ultra-radical Islamic State (IS). Karen Aizha Hamidon was arrested in Taguig city, an hour east of the capital Manila, on Oct 11, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre announced at a news conference on Wednesday. Aguirre said Haidon was formerly the wife of Singaporean Muhammad Shamin Mohamed Sidek, a security guard detained in Singapore in August 2015 for planning to join IS and using social media to incite violence.

    Hamidon later married Mohammad Jaafar Maguid, a Filipino, who led ISIS-linked Ansar al-Khilafah Philippines till he was killed by police in January this year, according to Mr Aguirre. Aguirre said Hamidon was also a close associate of Musa Cerantonio, an Australian Islamist preacher who was purportedly recruiting fighters for IS. Rebellion charges are being readied against Hamidon in relation to 296 social media posts linked to her seeking to recruit reinforcements for besieged Muslim militants in the war-torn southern city of Marawi.

    “It is very clear that her actions are in conspiracy, or in sync, with actions of the rebels. While her companions are fighting in Marawi, her part is to further recruit fighters to assist in the Marawi siege by the IS and Maute groups,” said Aguirre. Hundreds of Muslim militants stormed Marawi on May 23 in an audacious bid to turn it into an IS “province”. They have held on to parts of the city for nearly five months. News of Hamidon’s arrest comes two days after security forces in Marawi battled and killed Isnilon Hapilon, designated by IS as its top man in South-east Asia; and Omarkhayam Maute, co-leader of a group that provided the bulk of fighters that attacked Marawi.

    On Tuesday (Oct 17), President Rodrigo Duterte declared that Marawi had been “liberated from terrorists’ influence” following the deaths of Hapilon and Maute, though the army has yet to dislodge a pocket of militants entrenched in the heart of the city. More than 1,000 militants, government troops and civilians have been killed and about 400,000 people displaced. Half of Marawi lies in ruins, levelled by air raids, artillery barrages and fierce urban fighting. Indian intelligence officials last year sought help from Philippine authorities, after Hamidon’s name cropped up as administrator of Facebook, Telegram and WhatsApp groups that sought to recruit Muslims in India to fight for IS in Iraq and Syria.

    Mohammad Sirajuddin, 33, a marketing manager with the Indian Oil Corporation arrested in December 2015, said it was Hamidon who first contacted him on Facebook and WhatsApp and convinced him to join IS in Syria. A profile provided by India’s National Investigation Agency said Hamidon’s father was a Muslim. He died when she was 20 years old. Her mother was a Christian, and brought her up as a Christian. But she and her two sisters converted to Islam about 10 years ago.

     

     

    Source: The Star

  • 2 Self-Radicalised Singaporeans Detained Under Internal Security Act

    2 Self-Radicalised Singaporeans Detained Under Internal Security Act

    Two self-radicalised Singaporeans have been detained under the Internal Security Act for involvement in terrorism-related activities, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced on Wednesday (Sep 30).

    Muhammad Shamin Mohamed Sidek, 29, and Muhammad Harith Jailani, 18, were detained in August this year. Investigations showed that they had harboured the intention to make their way to Syria to join the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and engage in violence there, MHA said.

    Shamin was influenced by ISIS’s online radical propaganda and was earlier convicted and sentenced to three months’ jail under Section 267C of the Penal Code for inciting religious violence through his pro-ISIS postings on social media. MHA said he continued to express support for ISIS throughout his three-month imprisonment and was thus arrested under the ISA in July this year to assess if he posed a threat to Singapore’s security.

    Subsequent investigations by the Internal Security Department showed that Shamin planned to travel to Syria to join ISIS once he had raised enough money to fund the trip.

    Shamin had also decided that if he was unable to join ISIS, he would consider fighting alongside a regional militant group that he considered to be aligned with ISIS. “He was undeterred by his arrest under the ISA and said he would pursue his plans to join ISIS after his release from detention. Shamin said he was prepared to die in the course of defending the ‘caliphate’ that was declared by ISIS,” MHA added.

    Like Shamin, 18-year-old Harith was radicalised by online propaganda put up by ISIS. He harboured the intention to carry out armed attacks for the terrorist group, MHA said. “He was prepared to be trained by ISIS to fight and kill the group’s enemies, and to die in the process so that he would receive divine rewards for dying as a martyr.”

    Harith had collected information on how he could travel to Syria and also tried to radicalise those around him to support ISIS’ cause in an attempt to recruit them to join ISIS together with him.

    The detentions of Shamin and Harith underline the “persistent ISIS threat” and the threat posed by self-radicalised Singaporeans, MHA said. The ministry noted that a few of the
    Singaporeans who have been detained had even been prepared to carry out terrorist attacks in Singapore.

    “The Government takes a very serious view of any form of support for terrorism, including but not limited to the use of violence, and will take firm and decisive action against any person who engages in such activities,” the ministry said.

    It encourages those who are aware that someone is involved in terrorism-related activities, or who see suspicious activities to promptly inform the Internal Security Department (1800-2626-473) or call the Police (999).

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Security Guard Jailed For Making Facebook Posts Inciting Religious Violence

    Security Guard Jailed For Making Facebook Posts Inciting Religious Violence

    A 28-year-old security guard has been jailed for three months after making Facebook posts inciting readers to religious violence.

    Muhammad Shamin Mohamed Sidek made the two posts on Nov 29 last year after reading a news report of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a dialogue on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

    Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Wen Hsien said that Shamin’s posts used “graphic and evocative language” which “further encourages violence along… religious fault lines”.

    She added that the reach of the accused’s words had been magnified by the accessibility of his Facebook platform.

    In mitigation, Shamin said he had deactivated his Facebook account the same day after leaving police custody, and that the posts had been those of  “a simple layman… venting in frustration”.

    District Judge Shawn Ho called the accused’s posts a “grim reminder of how offenders can use technology to stoke the flames of violence… particularly given the current international, regional and domestic security climate”.

    “It is infinitely better to prevent a breakdown in law, order and safety than to deal with an aftermath when untold and often irreparable damage has been done,” he said.

    Shamin was also convicted of possessing contraband cigarettes, which were discovered during a police raid on his Tampines flat.

    He admitted purchasing the 40 packs of Marlboro cigarettes knowing that their duties had not been paid. For this, he received a fine of $3,200, or 16 days’ jail if he defaults.

    For making a document or electronic record containing an incitement to violence, he could have been jailed for up to five years, fined or both.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com