Man who promoted terrorism charged under Passports Act
Ex-Singaporean who promoted terrorism allegedly failed to declare his acquiring of Australian citizenship
A man who promoted terrorism and the glorification of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was charged under the Passports Act yesterday.
Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff, 49, had helped radicalise at least two Singaporeans, believing that violence should be used when necessary to establish an Islamic state.
Yesterday, he was charged with making a false statement regarding his Singapore passport renewal application.
FALSE STATEMENT
On Dec 11, 2013, he allegedly made a false statement on the Application for Passport On-line Electronic System.
Zulfikar had allegedly declared he had not acquired the citizenship of another country at the time of the application, a statement which he allegedly knew to be false.
In a press release yesterday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said Zulfikar had resettled with his family in Australia in 2002. He was holding dual citizenship for Singapore and Australia.
He was arrested here by the Internal Security Department and detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in July 2016.
MHA added that his active promotion of terrorism and the glorification of ISIS had led to the radicalisation of Singaporeans Muhammad Shamin Mohamed Sidek and Mohamed Saiddhin Abdullah.
Muhammad Shamin has also been detained under the ISA, while a Restriction Order for Mohamed Saiddhin was allowed to lapse on July 26.
MHA said Zulfikar also exhorted Muslims to reject the constitutional, secular, democratic state in favour of the establishment of an Islamic state governed by Syariah law.
He has since renounced his Singapore citizenship and is no longer a citizen here as of Aug 26.
Zulfikar is represented by Mr Lock Zhi Yong, and has indicated he intends to plead guilty. He will be back in court on Oct 22.
If convicted of the offence under the Passports Act, Zulfikar can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined up to $10,000.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
