Bangladeshi jailed in Singapore for financing Syria-based terrorist group's campaigns

SINGAPORE — A Bangladeshi construction worker in Singapore who donated to campaigns linked to a Syrian terrorist group and was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) was jailed for two years and eight months on Monday (21 February).

Ahmed Faysal, 27, donated $891.98 over 15 occasions to campaigns that he had reason to believe would benefit the militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS).

HTS is a terrorist group in Syria that aims to overthrow Bashar al-Assad's regime and establish an Islamic caliphate in Syria. It was created by Al-Nusrah Front, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, in January 2017. HTS currently controls the last rebel-held enclave in Idlib, a city in northwestern Syria.

HTS was listed as a terrorist entity on the United Nations Security Council’s ISIL (Da’esh) and Al- Qaida list on 5 June 2018.

Ahmed pleaded guilty to five counts under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act, with 10 similar charges considered for his sentencing.

Ahmed initially supported the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) after learning about jihad and the Syrian civil war through Facebook. He spread his pro-jihadist views on Facebook, creating multiple accounts to glorify the solders of jihad and their deaths. He knew that Facebook might delete his accounts due to the content he posted.

In the initial stages, Ahmed considered travelling to Syria to support ISIS but did not as he did not have the funds and still had to support his family in Bangladesh.

In mid-2019, Ahmed became disillusioned with ISIS after watching videos of Muslim scholars condemning the group for killing innocents. He switched allegiance to HTS instead, believing that HTS was less brutal.

Despite being informed that HTS had detained, tortured and executed civilians, Ahmed continued to support HTS. In preparation for jihad, Ahmed armed himself with seven knives and more blades, which were found with him when he was arrested.

When asked, Ahmed said he intended to use the knives in Bangladesh and not in Singapore as he still wanted to work here. He did not have any concrete plans on what he would use the knives for, save for using them against those that attacked Muslims and got away scot-free.

In 2019, Ahmed began following the Facebook page of a medical doctor who was working in Idlib, Syria. The doctor was vocal in his support of HTS and the overthrowing of the Syrian government through violence. He would livestream videos on Facebook to appeal for funds purportedly for his hospital, which supposedly treated injured HTS soldiers.

Swayed by the doctor, Ahmed would donate to an entity, believing that the money would help HTS and other civilians and refugees affected by the violence. He did not know or find out how the money would be used specifically, just that it could have been used to benefit HTS.

In 2020, Ahmed also donated to a fundraising campaign he learned of through the same doctor. The campaign on online platform JustGiving purported to build emergency homes in Syria for people whose houses had been destroyed. Ahmed sent money to the campaign thinking that it would benefit people in Idlib.

The prosecution sought 34 months’ jail, citing the difficulty of detecting such offences and their transnational element.

“In the present case, it is clear that the offences were deliberately carried out by the accused. The accused was exposed to HTS’s extremist ideologies, including its intention to establish an Islamic caliphate and to overthrow the Syrian government. He agreed with these goals, and was personally committed to jihadi ideology and the violent cause,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Esther Wong.

“This was not a spur of the moment or a one-off offence, but a systematic pattern of behaviour.”

Ahmed was arrested on 2 November 2020 and placed on detention under the ISA, and has since been incarcerated for 476 days, his lawyer Samuel Seow An pointed out. Ahmed is deeply remorseful for his misdeeds, and has disavowed the radical beliefs of HTS and other terrorist entities, Seow said. He is committed to support his family upon returning to Bangladesh, the lawyer from Yong Seow & Lim Legal LLP added.

His sentence will be backdated when he was charged on 23 December last year.

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