SINGAPORE: A man who was detained in 2016 under the Internal Security Act (ISA) was charged on Thursday (Oct 8) with lying in his passport application.
Mohamad Shariff Zulfikar, a 49-year-old Australia citizen, was charged in the State Courts with one count of making a false statement in connection with a Singapore passport application.
Advertisement Advertisement He is accused of falsely declaring that he had not acquired another citizenship while applying for a Singapore passport on Dec 11, 2013. The declaration was made via an electronic application, the charge sheet said.
Shariff was detained under the ISA in July 2016 for terrorism-related activities, the Ministry of Home Affairs said then.
He influenced others with radical messages and material he propagated online, including “numerous Facebook postings glorifying and promoting Isis and their violent actions, while exploiting religion to legitimise the terrorist activities of ISIS”.
He had embarked on the path of radicalism as early as 2001 after reading jihadi-related material, said MHA, supporting terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and the Jemaah Islamiyah, and advocating Muslims to take up arms in Afghanistan after the Sep 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US.
Advertisement Advertisement According to MHA, Shariff resettled his family in Australia in 2002 and continued to pursue radical ideology.
He will return to court to plead guilty later this month. For the offence of making a false statement under the Passports Act, he could be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to S$10,000, or both.
CNA has contacted MHA for more information.
Let's block ads! (Why?)
More...