CHRISTCHURCH-LIKE TERROR ATTACK THWARTED IN SINGAPORE

Thu 28 January 2021:

A major terror attack has been foiled in Singapore as a 16-year-boy planning to attack two mosques and kill worshipers was arrested, an official statement said.

The 16-year-old student, who is a Protestant Christian of Indian ethnicity, is the youngest to be detained under such laws, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) said in a statement, adding that the teenager, who was inspired by “far-right extremist ideology”, was detained last month.

“A secondary school student at the time, he was found to have made detailed plans and preparations to conduct terrorist attacks using a machete against Muslims at two mosques in Singapore,” the ministry said.

The ISA law allows for detention without trial.

The boy was planning to live stream of his possible acts, copying the terror act committed by Tarrant in New Zealand.

The ISD said the boy is the first person in Singapore to be detained after being inspired by far-right extremist ideology. He is the youngest person to be detained under the ISA for terrorism-related activities in the city-state.

The teenager, who has not been identified, had mapped out his route and chosen Assyafaah Mosque and Yusof Ishak Mosque as his targets near his home in northern Singapore, the ministry said, adding that he also had the intention of live-streaming his planned attack.

“He was self-radicalised, motivated by a strong antipathy towards Islam and a fascination with violence, the statement said.

According to Today Online news website, he also planned to steal his father’s credit card to rent an electric car for the possible attack and also bought a vest with right-wing extremist symbols.

The boy researched legal means of gaining access to firearms but abandoned the idea given the difficulty of getting it.

He also wanted to buy a rifle but he did not follow through with the purchase.

Owing to concerns surrounding logistics and his own safety, he settled on a machete he found for sale on an online marketplace.

The ministry said the teen was clearly influenced by Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant who shot dead 51 Muslims attending Friday prayers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 15, 2019. He had also streamed the shooting live on Facebook.

The boy is undergoing a rehabilitation process that will involve religious, psychological, and social counselling.

Because of his young age, he has been granted family visits and his mother was present during the questioning by authorities.

“He went in fully prepared, knowing that he is going to die, and he was prepared to die,” Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam was quoted as saying by local media.

Singapore’s Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam termed the development “worrying.”

“It’s also worrying that we are picking up young people,” said Shanmugam, who ruled out charging the boy “because of his young age.”

He was only in the process of planning his attack and had yet to take action, he added.

“It’s the first case we have had of right-wing extremists targeting Muslims.

“Violent impulses, I’ve said this many times, is not restricted to any particular racial group or religious group. It can occur among anyone. It’s really a question of being exposed to hate speech and then being influenced by it,” the minister said.

Since 2015, Singaporean authorities have used the ISA against seven people under 20 years, including this boy.

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