Singapore convicts four Bangladeshis of terrorism financing

A Singapore court has convicted four Bangladeshis of providing and raising money to fund terrorist acts in Bangladesh, local media reported.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 31 May 2016, 03:55 AM
Updated : 31 May 2016, 05:34 AM

They were part of a group of six who were charged on Friday under the country’s Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act.
 
The Straits Times reported that Rahman Mizanur, Miah Rubel, Md Jabath Kysar Haje Norul Islam Sowdagar and Sohel Hawlader Ismail Hawlader have pleaded guilty in court on Tuesday.
 
The other two - Zzaman Daulat and Mamun Leakot Ali- have denied the charges. A pre-trial conference for them has been set for June 9, it said.
 
Citing court documents, Straits Times said that Rahman led the group and Mamun was his deputy.  
 
“Miah was in the group's financial council, while Jabath handled the group's media. Zzaman and Sohel were in the group's security and fighter councils respectively,” reads the report.

The six were among eight men arrested between late March and early last month.

Working in the marine and construction industries, they called themselves the Islamic State in Bangladesh (ISB).

Singapore authorities said that they were planning attacks in Bangladesh to overthrow the present government.

It also said their goal was to set up an Islamic state in Bangladesh and bring it under the self-declared caliphate of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The Straits Times report said that documents submitted to the court indicates Rahman was radicalised in Bangladesh by one Jahangir Alam in April 2015.

Rahman, who went to Singapore in December last year, met Miah, Zzaman and another Bangladeshi Sohag Ibrahim in January this year and convinced them to join ISIS, the report said.

Sohag was also among the group of eight detained by Singapore authorities.

According to documents provided by prosecution, the  group was planning to “wage an armed jihad” and kill non-believers after returning to Bangladesh, says the report.

Prosecution sought a three-week adjournment to prepare submission for sentencing and the four convicted men are scheduled to appear in court on June 21, The Straits Times reported.

In January, Singapore said it had arrested 27 Bangladeshi construction workers who supported Islamist groups including al-Qaeda and Islamic State and deported 26 of them.

Fourteen of the 26 have since been jailed in Bangladesh on "terror charges", Bangladeshi police said, but denied they had any link to the Islamic State or al-Qaeda.