Man jailed for transferring funds to overseas terrorist group

A Bangladeshi construction worker in Singapore who transferred nearly $900 in 2020 to help finance a dangerous terrorist organisation overseas has been sentenced to two years and eight months' jail.

Ahmed Faysal, 27, made 15 fund transfers in all through various online platforms to Medical Aid Syria (MAS) and Ramadan 2020 Emergency Homes for Syria.

He did so despite having reasonable grounds to believe that the monies would, in part, benefit terrorist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is based in Syria.

Ahmed was sentenced yesterday after he pleaded guilty to five charges under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act.

He started his job here as a construction worker in 2017 and became radicalised the year after, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had said in an earlier statement.

Deputy public prosecutors Cheng Yuxi and Esther Wong said he initially supported militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) but became disillusioned in mid-2019 after Muslim scholars condemned the group for killing innocent civilians.

"He began supporting HTS instead, on his understanding that HTS was less brutal than ISIS in achieving its goals." they added.

Ahmed also started following the Facebook page of one Dr Shajul Islam, a medical doctor with Bangladeshi roots said to have worked in a hospital in Idlib, Syria, which was run by MAS.

Influenced by the contents of Dr Shajul's Facebook page, Ahmed sent money to MAS.

The prosecutors said: "Despite sending monies multiple times, the accused did not know or find out how the monies he sent to MAS would specifically be used.

"At the time... he was aware that the monies could be used to benefit HTS soldiers in Idlib."

The following year, Ahmed came across an online fund-raising campaign named Ramadan 2020 Emergency Homes for Syria. The campaign was run by a British-registered charity called One Nation.

He sent monies to One Nation on multiple occasions intending to benefit the people in Idlib, which included HTS soldiers.

When he was arrested, he had seven knives in his possession, which he had bought for "jihad".

The prosecutors said he did not intend to use the weapons in Singapore. "However, he stated that he would only use the knives in Bangladesh if Hindus attacked Muslims and the government took no action against the perpetrators."

MHA said in its statement that Ahmed was arrested under the Internal Security Act for terrorism-related activities and issued an Order of Detention. The order will be cancelled now that he has been convicted and sentenced.

To prevent him from spreading his radical ideas to other inmates, he will be held separately while serving his prison sentence, the ministry added.