Son of Mas Selamat arrested at own wedding reception: report

The son of infamous Singapore fugitive Mas Selamat bin Kastari was detained at his own wedding reception in Central Java last Sunday, the Jakarta Globe reported.

The son’s lawyer, Achmad Michdan, said that the arrest warrant showed that Muhammad Hanif bin Mas Selamat, better known as Masyhadi, is facing immigration charges.

Masyhadi is being held at an undisclosed location, and his family has not been told of his whereabouts, the Jakarta Globe quoted the lawyer as saying.

The lawyer could not say whether his client had ever had Singaporean citizenship. He noted, however, that Masyhadi had lived in Indonesia since primary-school age and had studied at a Muslim boarding school in Boyolali before going on to become a preacher in Pacitan and Madiun, two towns in East Java.

Masyhadi married officially on 6 September and was at his wedding reception on 20 October when he was arrested.

Masyhadi’s father, Mas Selamat, was the alleged the leader of the Singapore cell of terrorist organisation Jemaah Islamiah and was also said to be behind a plot to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport.

He escaped from a high-security prison in Singapore in 2008, leading to the biggest manhunt in Singapore. He was found by Malaysian authorities in Johor in 2009 and later turned over to Singapore authorities.