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Singaporean ISA detainee jailed 2.5 years for giving Jamaican radical preacher $1,146

Ahmed Hussein Abdul Kadir Sheik Uduman, 35, pleaded guilty to two charges of terrorism funding. (Photo: Getty)
Ahmed Hussein Abdul Kadir Sheik Uduman, 35, pleaded guilty to two charges of terrorism funding. (Photo: Getty)

SINGAPORE — He was drawn to the teachings of a radical Muslim preacher from Jamaica who advocated murdering Jews, Hindus, Christians and Americans, even though the latter had been jailed for nine years over his preachings in the UK.

Singaporean IT engineer Ahmed Hussein Abdul Kadir Sheikh Uduman, 35, even communicated with Abdullah el-Faisal, 56, online, despite the preacher being monitored constantly by the Jamaican authorities after being deported.

Ahmed even donated about $1,146 to el-Faisal.

At the State Courts on Thursday (17 October), Ahmed, currently detained under the Internal Security Act, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years’ jail after he pleaded guilty to two charges of terrorism funding.

The court proceedings took place behind closed doors with Ahmed escorted by officers from the police’s Gurkha contingent.

Drawn to radical preacher’s videos

According to the prosecution’s court documents, Ahmed came across el-Faisal’s videos on his website and YouTube channels in 2013.

Ahmed was aware that el-Faisal was a radical preacher who advocated using violence against non-Muslims. Among other things, el-Faisal said it was an obligation for Muslims to set up a caliphate and that the militant group ISIS’ use of violence was commendable.

Through online research, Ahmed was also aware of el-Faisal’s criminal record. The Jamaican was sentenced to nine years’ jail in 2003 in the UK on three charges of soliciting the murders of Jews, Hindus, Christians and Americans and two counts of using threatening words to stir up racial hatred.

After serving four years behind bars, el-Faisal was deported to Jamaica. Besides being under police observation, el-Faisal is also banned by the Islamic Council of Jamaica from preaching in its mosques.

Donated to preacher via money mules

Ahmed agreed with el-Faisal’s religious ideology and preachings, and communicated with him via Facebook, email and WhatsApp.

The Singaporean was keen to donate money to the terrorist and took steps to evade detection by the authorities.

Ahmed would delete emails from an email accounts relating to communication with el-Faisal. He also deleted an email account linked to his Facebook account, which contained records of his communication with el-Faisal.

On 26 July 2016, acting on instructions from el-Faisal, Ahmed transferred $1,059 to a money mule named Patrick Gray via Western Union.

Two months later, on 3 September 2016, Ahmed transferred US$62 ($87.43) to one of el-Faisal’s wives, Nzingha Kokayi, via PayPal.

Wanted to undertake violence in Syria

Ahmed wanted to travel to Syria to fight on behalf of ISIS last year. But the Internal Security Department arrested him before he could follow through on his plan.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) revealed Ahmed’s detention under the Internal Security Act in September last year.

He had been arrested by the Internal Security Department in July last year and placed under detention the next month.

MHA said that by late 2016, Ahmed was “convinced that he should fight and die as a martyr for ISIS in its self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq”.

“Ahmed maintained regular contact with foreign pro-ISIS individuals on social media to keep up with the developments in ISIS. He also tried to influence some of his foreign online contacts to follow the violent teachings of the radical ideologues whom he had been following, because he wanted them to support ISIS.”

For each of his terrorism funding charges under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act, Ahmed could have been fined up to $500,000 and jailed for up to 10 years.

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