16-year-old Singaporean detained under ISA for planning terrorist attacks on two mosques

By Lim Min Zhang, The Straits Times, 28 Jan 2021

A 16-year-old Singaporean student has been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) after the authorities uncovered his plans to attack two mosques and kill worshippers in Singapore on March 15 - the second anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks.

A Protestant Christian of Indian ethnicity, he is the first detainee to be inspired by far-right extremist ideology and the youngest person detained under the ISA for terrorism-related activities to date, said the Internal Security Department (ISD) yesterday.

Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam told reporters that if such an attack had succeeded, it was likely to incite fear and conflict between the country's different racial groups and religions.

The secondary school student was found to have made detailed plans and preparations to conduct terrorist attacks using a machete at the two mosques, the ISD said.

He had chosen Assyafaah Mosque in Sembawang and Yusof Ishak Mosque in Woodlands as his targets because they are near his home, it added. He planned to rent a BlueSG car to travel between the two sites and had watched videos on operating an automatic transmission vehicle.

Influenced by the Christchurch attacker Brenton Tarrant, the youth had mapped out his route, bought a flak jacket, intended to buy a machete on online marketplace Carousell and wanted to live-stream his planned massacre.

"He was self-radicalised, motivated by a strong antipathy towards Islam and a fascination with violence," said ISD, adding that he had also watched the live-streamed video of the terrorist attack on the two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and had read the attacker's manifesto. Tarrant, a white supremacist, gunned down 51 people in the attacks on March 15, 2019.

The Singaporean youth also watched Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) propaganda videos, and came to the erroneous conclusion that ISIS represented Islam, and that Islam called on its followers to kill non-believers, said ISD.

ISD said it was clear from his plans and preparations that he was influenced by Tarrant's actions and manifesto, such as how he planned to carry out the attacks on the anniversary of the Christchurch attacks, and had intended to modify a tactical vest he bought online such that the attack could be live-streamed from a mobile device.

Mr Shanmugam told reporters: "How do we weed out or find out every single person who wants to do something like this? I have asked ISD and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth to engage the religious organisations to be more vigilant across the different religions, and advisories have been issued to religious organisations to strengthen their crisis preparedness to be more alert."

The minister added that the youth will be rehabilitated, instead of treating him as a criminal, charging him and putting him in jail. "So here, with rehabilitation, my hope is that after a number of years, he can be released and carry on with his life."

ISD said its investigation so far indicates that the youth had acted alone. There was also no indication that he had tried to influence anyone with his extreme outlook or involve others in his attack plans.

Religious leaders issued calls for solidarity yesterday.

The National Council of Churches of Singapore said it wanted to assure the Muslim community that it remained committed to defeating hatred and violence. "We will not be deterred from our common goal to build harmony and cohesion in multi-religious Singapore society," it added.

By Fabian Koh‍, The Straits Times, 28 Jan 2021

The rise of right-wing extremism creeping into Singapore is a worrying development, and is part of a larger wave sweeping across the world, said Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam yesterday.

He was commenting on the case of a 16-year-old Singaporean student who was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) last month for plotting to attack Muslims at two mosques here on the second anniversary of a terror attack in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The Protestant Christian of Indian ethnicity was influenced by Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant, and is the first ISA detainee to have been inspired by far-right extremist ideology.

"It was quite chilling," Mr Shanmugam told reporters at the Home Team Science and Technology Agency, noting that the youth had planned the attack expecting that he would be killed by the police while executing his plans. "And he was prepared to die."

"Violent impulses, I've said this many times, are not restricted to any particular racial group or religious group. It can occur amongst anyone. It's really a question of being exposed to hate speech and then being influenced by it."

He said Singapore's strategy has been to engage with community and religious organisations on maintaining religious and racial harmony, as well as use the ISA to pick up radicalised individuals before they can cause any harm.

If the attack had succeeded, it would likely have incited fear and conflict between different racial and religious groups in Singapore, Mr Shanmugam noted.

Making the point that such extremism is not restricted to one particular group, he pointed to terrorists who claim to act in the name of Islam, as well as right-wing extremists with hateful manifestos.

He cited Norwegian far-right terrorist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in 2011, and American white supremacist Dylann Roof who killed nine black parishioners in South Carolina four years later.

Both of them influenced Tarrant, who on March 15, 2019, killed 51 people at two Christchurch mosques.

"And Tarrant inspired this boy whom we picked up. It is sad, I would say, that it's come to this, the world has come to this. And it's also creeping in into Singapore," said Mr Shanmugam.

He noted that the storming of the United States Capitol in Washington by right-wing protesters on Jan 6 was seen by many in that segment "both as a symbolic victory and a strategic defeat which they need to learn from". This issue is going to be a "long battle" for the world and Singapore, he added.

Mr Shanmugam also flagged another worrying trend - that seven people under the age of 20 have been picked up under the ISA since 2015, after getting radicalised through the Internet. Four have been detained, while three were served with restriction orders.

While the police have considerably enhanced their counter-terrorism response capabilities since the November 2015 attacks in Paris to focus on responding quickly to terror incidents and on areas that are prone to attacks, it will not be easy to prevent attacks like the one the 16-year-old youth had planned every single time, he cautioned.

The minister credited the ISD for being "extremely effective in picking out these people so that the attacks haven't even taken place".

To weed out more of such cases, he said the ISD and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth are engaging religious organisations across the different religions to be more vigilant.

Advisories have also been issued to these groups to strengthen their crisis preparedness.

"We can only say thank goodness we are not like many other parts of the world; otherwise, instead of standing before you and saying that we have detained him (the youth), I will be saying, 'I'm very sorry that this has happened, this is another dastardly attack', and people will be putting flowers in memory of those who had been senselessly killed... It's the state of the world that we are in," he added.

Mr Shanmugam held up the latest case as an example of why Singapore takes a tough stance against hate speech of all forms including songs, saying that it has "real-world consequences" as it leads to the demonisation of other people.

"Our population has confidence that the Government is in the middle, and we protect you, regardless of who you are, whether you are Muslim or Christian," he said.

"You are a human being, and your sexual inclinations don't matter, we protect you, and we make sure that there can be no violence. So that is a guarantee that this Government has always given."

By Fabian Koh‍, The Straits Times, 28 Jan 2021

The 16-year-old student who was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for planning terrorist attacks on two mosques will receive Christian religious counselling to correct the radical ideology he has imbibed.

The Protestant Christian of Indian ethnicity will also go for psychological counselling to address his propensity for violence and vulnerability to radical influences, said the Internal Security Department (ISD) yesterday.

He will be granted family visits, and an aftercare officer will be assigned to his family to provide social and financial help if needed, the ISD added.

Arrangements have also been made for him to continue his studies, which include preparing him for national examinations, while he is in detention, said ISD

A mentor will also be assigned to the youth - the first ISA detainee inspired by far-right extremist ideology - to guide him towards pro-social behaviours.

Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said Singapore's approach of providing religious counselling to radicalised youth is better for their rehabilitation than charging and imprisoning them.

The 16-year-old youth is the youngest person to date to be dealt with under the ISA for terrorism-related activities.

"There's a reasonable expectation, that he, like many of the other boys, would eventually understand what their religion is about, and can actually get rehabilitated," Mr Shanmugam told reporters.

Legally, there is no minimum age for a person to be dealt with under the ISA. Due to the youth's age, special safeguards were taken during the investigations and detention, said the ISD. For example, his mother was present during the interview prior to his arrest.

Family visits were also allowed for him during the 30-day investigation period, although such visits are typically not allowed in the first 30 days.

Mr Shanmugam noted that Singapore adopts a consistent approach to rehabilitation, regardless of an individual's race or religion.

He cited the example of the Religious Rehabilitation Group, which was set up after the 9/11 terror attacks, to explain how the counselling takes place. The group, formed by Islamic scholars and teachers, receives some administrative support from the Government but operates independently.

It counsels the detainees and explains to them what the religion is really about and where they have gone wrong in their understanding of their religion, he added.

Some detainees were released after two years, he said, noting that rehabilitation will take longer for those who are fixed in their views and continue to believe in violence.

Flagging how seven people under the age of 20 have been picked by the ISA since 2015, Mr Shanmugam said: "They accessed the Internet, they get self-radicalised."

He added that the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth are aware of this trend. The ministries are putting in a lot of effort to address the issue, which is why there are fewer such cases here compared with other places.

But he also sounded a word of caution: "There is this tide that's coming in. I want to be realistic about it. We will do our best, society does its best, parents do their best.

"But, nevertheless, you must expect that increasingly, because it is so prevalent elsewhere, across religions - not just any specific religion - you must expect those influences to seep in, somewhat. We can just do our best to try and make sure that we're not overwhelmed."

The Straits Times, 28 Jan 2021

Australian Brenton Tarrant killed 51 people and injured 40 after he opened fire at worshippers at two mosques in the city of Christchurch in New Zealand on March 15, 2019.

The white supremacist, then 28 years old, stormed the Al Noor mosque armed with semi-automatic guns and shot at Muslims gathered there for Friday prayers, killing 44.

This was filmed from a head-mounted camera and streamed on Facebook as he headed to Linwood Islamic Centre about 5km away and killed another seven people.

Tarrant, born in New South Wales to a father who was a garbage collector and a mother who was a teacher, had moved to New Zealand in 2017 and started planning attacks against the Muslim community.

In his 74-page manifesto titled The Great Replacement which he published before the attack, he wrote that he wanted to ensure a future for white people, and described the immigration of non-European people to Western countries as "white genocide", among other things.

Tarrant described himself as "a regular white man, from a regular family" and said he did not hate foreigners or Muslims who lived in their "homelands".

But he said immigrants were invaders who colonised other people's lands.

He was sentenced to life in jail without parole last August - the first terrorism conviction in New Zealand's history.

The New Zealand judge who sentenced him had said the sentence was not enough punishment for the "wicked" crimes.

He said Tarrant had shown no remorse and that no matter how long he spent in prison, it would not be long enough to atone for his crimes.