S'pore jails 4 Bangladeshis

A Singapore court yesterday jailed four Bangladeshi workers for two to five years for financing terrorism.

They are Mizanur Rahman, 31; Rubel Miah, 26; Md Jabath Kysar Haje Norul Islam Sowdagar, 31; and Ismail Hawlader Sohel, 29, reports Singapore-based The Straits Times.

The four, detained in April under Singapore's Internal Security Act, pleaded guilty to their crimes on May 31.

They were earlier charged with providing or collecting money to fund terrorist acts in Bangladesh.

Ringleader Mizanur was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, Rubel and Jabath to two and a half years each, and Sohel to two years.

All the sentences will be backdated to May 27, the day they first appeared in court.

Asking for deterrent sentences, the prosecution pointed out that the accused men have caused public disquiet and were funding ISIS, one of the most dangerous terrorist organisations in the world.

The four were part of a group of six charged under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act (TSOFA). This is the first time the Act has been used for prosecution, says the Singapore newspaper.

The other two -- Zaman Daulat, 34, and Mamun Leakot Ali, 29, -- have denied the charges and are claiming trial.

The six are among the eight Bangladeshi workers arrested on April 26 in Singapore.

Along with the six, two Bangladeshis -- Shariful Islam, 27, and Sohag Ibrahim, 27, -- are now in jail, said Ayesha Siddiqua Shelley, labour counsellor at the Bangladesh High Commission in Singapore.

The High Commission was not yet officially informed of the conviction of the four, she told The Daily Star over the phone.

“We came to know about it through newspapers. We were not informed by the Singapore authorities…,” added the counsellor.

According to The Straits Times reports, court documents showed that the four convicts had clearly defined roles. They were led by Mizanur, with Mamun as the group's deputy leader.

Rubel was in the group's financial council, while Jabath handled its media.

And Zaman and Sohel were in the group's security and fighter councils.

Rubel and Jabath were also accused of possessing money for terrorist purposes.

Court documents showed that Jabath was in possession of $1,360 -- this includes a sum of $1,060 that he was handed by Rubel. In all, the six had contributed $60 to $500 to the cause.

Working in the marine and construction industries, they called themselves the Islamic State in Bangladesh (ISB). They were planning attacks back home in hopes of toppling the present government.

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).

Earlier on April 29, Singapore had deported five Bangladeshis for their suspected militancy links.

Back then, the Singapore authorities had said the five were investigated as part of a crackdown on the so-called ISB, and it was found that “they possessed and/or proliferated jihadi-related materials, or supported the use of armed violence in pursuit of a religious cause”.

However, their involvement in the ISB was not found, according to Singapore's home affairs ministry.

The five are Mizanur Rahman alias Ghalib Hasan, 38, from Brahmanbaria, Md Rana Mia Pilot, 29, from Bogra, Md Alamgir Hossain, 31, from Meherpur, Md Tanjimul Islam, 24, from Chandpur, and Masud Rana alias Sontu Khan, 31 from Pabna.

On May 3, law enforcers arrested them from the capital's Banasree area over their suspected militancy links, and filed a case against them under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Between November 16 and December 1 last year, the Singapore authorities arrested 27 Bangladeshi construction workers for “supporting armed jihad ideology of terrorist groups such as Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda”.

Of them, 26 were deported to Bangladesh. On December 21, police arrested 14 of them finding their links with militancy and kept the rest under surveillance.

DB officials then said the deportees had no links to the IS or al-Qaeda, but 14 of them had ties with banned local outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and its detained spiritual leader Jasim Uddin Rahmani.

Later, a case was filed against the 14 under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The Detective Branch of Police, which has been investigating the two cases, is still to submit charge sheet.

“We are yet to submit charge sheet in any of the cases,” said Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Asked about the reason behind the delay in completing the probe, he said it takes time to verify information and evidence against the accused in such cases.