SINGAPORE - A Singaporean man has been accused of organising an event at a foreign workers’ dormitory involving Bangladeshi national Amir Hamza, a preacher with reported links to a pro-Al-Qaeda organisation in his country.
Abdus Sattar was charged on March 27 with one count each of abetting a foreigner to conduct activities as a religious speaker in Singapore without a work pass; organising a public assembly without a police permit; and providing public entertainment without a licence.
Sattar, 51, is said to have organised the event at Lantana Lodge in Tech Park Crescent, near Tuas South Avenue 4 on Aug 9, 2024.
At the time, Sattar was a director at dormitory operator SBM Electrical & Automation, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in a joint release on March 27.
SBM Electrical & Automation was charged with failing to maintain an up-to-date record of persons who were not dormitory residents when they entered and left the dormitory on or around Aug 9, 2024.
The cases involving Sattar and SBM will be mentioned again in court on April 24.
SPF and MOM said Sattar had allegedly invited Hamza Md Amir alias Amir Hamza and another Bangladeshi known as Ullah Mohammed Neamat to a religious public assembly held on Aug 9, 2024.
Prosecutors accuse him of soliciting Amir’s services as a speaker, as well as facilitating Amir’s travels and conducting promotional outreach efforts regarding the preacher’s speaking engagement.
SPF and MOM said in their joint release: “Amir is alleged to have preached to the migrant workers present, and Ullah is alleged to have performed songs to the crowd.
“As for SBM...it had allowed a large number of foreign workers who were not residents of the dormitory to enter the dormitory premises (and) attend the event without maintaining proper records of their entering and leaving (it).”
Amir left Singapore the day after the event.
Police received reports on Aug 12, 2024 that he had preached to a group of Bangladeshi migrant workers.
In an earlier statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that Amir’s sermon had propagated extremist and segregationist teachings that were dangerous, and detrimental to Singapore’s communal harmony.
Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam told Parliament on Sept 9, 2024 that at the event, Amir suggested non-Muslims were kafirs (infidels), and held up extremists as exemplars of religious piety.
The ministry said that although the Internal Security Department (ISD) was aware of Amir and his background, the Bangladeshi had used a passport, which bore a different name from its databases, to enter Singapore the same day the event was held.
Mr Shanmugam said Amir’s biometric data was not on the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority’s multi-modal biometric database because it was his first visit to Singapore.
In their statement, MHA said Amir’s sermon was also politicised as he had described the previous Bangladesh government led by its former prime minister Sheikh Hasina as “oppressors” and claimed they had sentenced individuals to death for dissent.
Amir Hamza is reportedly involved with a pro-Al-Qaeda terrorist organisation in Bangladesh, Ansar al-Islam.PHOTO: MUFTI AMIR HAMZA/X
Amir, who has reported links with a pro-Al-Qaeda terrorist organisation in Bangladesh, Ansar al-Islam, was arrested by Bangladeshi authorities in 2021 for terrorism activities, and for inciting violence through his sermons.
Three suspects arrested while planning to attack Bangladesh’s Parliament that year told investigators they were inspired by his speeches.
Amir later confessed to misinterpreting religion and spreading extremism in his sermons, but denied inciting his supporters to carry out attacks.
He was released on bail in December 2023, according to news reports.
News about the illegal event in Singapore was first put up on Reddit on Aug 12, 2024 with videos of a man speaking to a large crowd within a dormitory.
In late 2015, ISD arrested 27 male Bangladeshis working in the construction industry here.
The majority belonged to a group that subscribed to extremist beliefs such as armed jihad, and which targeted other Bangladeshi nationals to grow their membership.
All 27 had their work passes cancelled, and were repatriated.
Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.
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