Restriction Order for 17-year-old arrested under Internal Security Act last month

SINGAPORE — The 17-year-old boy arrested last month under the Internal Security Act has been released from custody, but will be placed on a Restriction Order for two years, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said today (June 29).

The unnamed youth will have to abide by conditions of the Restriction Order, which the MHA said provides a balance between rehabilitation and preservation of public security. He is to attend religious counselling and stop accessing violent or extremist material online. He is not allowed to issue public statements, and will not be allowed to leave the country without permission.

Further measures will be taken against him if he breaches conditions of the Restriction Order, or if such measures are deemed necessary to protect public security, said the MHA.

The youth was being investigated on the extent of his radicalisation, it was announced last month. The MHA said today that he was radicalised after viewing videos, websites and social media materials propagated by “radical ideologues and terrorist elements”. He had wanted to engage in armed violence alongside the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and had started preparing to carry out his plans, the ministry said.

The youth was one of two arrested in recent months under the ISA – in April, 19-year-old M Arifil Azim Putra Norja’i, the first known self-radicalised Singaporean to harbour the intention to carry out violent attacks here, was detained.

Arifil had actively looked up travel routes to Syria on the Internet and ways to make improvised explosive devices. He had planned to carry out attacks in public places in Singapore, as well as kill the Prime Minister and President, if he was unable to join the ISIS in Syria.

Anyone who knows or suspects that someone they know is radicalised may call the Internal Security Department’s Counter-Terrorism Centre hotline at 1800 2626 473.