• Mohamed Kazali Salleh, 50, befriended Wan Mohd Aquil Wan Zainal Abidin, known as Akel, in 2009
• Akel talked about his religious views and soon told Kazali he wanted to join Isis in Syria
• Kazali gave him S$1,026 to help him travel there
• Kazali was arrested in Malaysia in December 2018, then deported to Singapore 
• His lawyer said he has since realised the seriousness of his crimes

SINGAPORE — A 50-year-old man was on Thursday (Sept 9) jailed three years and 10 months for providing S$1,000 to a militant of terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis). He did it several years ago to facilitate terrorist acts in Syria.

Mohamed Kazali Salleh, a Singaporean, was a businessman based in Malaysia and a close associate of Syria-based Isis militant Wan Mohd Aquil Wan Zainal Abidin, known as Akel.

Akel was the most senior Malaysian Isis fighter in Syria, actively recruiting fellow countrymen, before he was reportedly killed by a Russian air strike in March 2019.

Kazali pleaded guilty to two charges under Singapore’s Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act. Another charge was taken into consideration during sentencing. 

It was the first prosecution here of a Singaporean for terrorism-financing acts committed overseas and the first prosecution for financing an individual’s travel to another country to become, or train to be, a terrorist.

THE CASE

Kazali befriended Akel in Malaysia in 2009 while on a trip to the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Akel talked about his religious views as well as his Jewish conspiracy theory that the Jews wanted to control the economy and people should band together to fight them. 

Intrigued, Kazali kept in touch with Akel after this encounter, meeting him many times from 2010 to 2013. 

They attended religious sermons and political rallies in Malaysia, where Akel would discuss his extremist ideology, including his strong interest in becoming a mujahid (a fighter in a Muslim army) to fight against the Syrian government.

In mid-2013, Akel told Kazali of his intention to go to Syria. He invited Kazali to go with him, but Kazali told him to make the trip without him first.

To that end, while at a bus stop in Johor Baru, Kazali first gave Akel 1,000 ringgit (about S$385) to buy a plane ticket to Turkey, so that Akel could eventually end up in Syria. 

In January 2014, Akel again contacted Kazali over messaging platform WhatsApp to ask for more money to travel to Syria. 

Kazali told his daughter to remit US$351 (about S$450) to Akel’s contact in Turkey, lying that it was for the purchase of carpets.

In early 2014, he also remitted 500 ringgit to Akel from a Malaysian branch of financial services firm Western Union.

In all, he had provided about S$1,026 to Akel on the three occasions.

Akel joined Isis in 2014, taking on a leadership role after the death of Malaysian militant Muhd Wanndy Mohamed Jedi in April 2017. 

In December 2018, Malaysian Special Branch officers arrested Kazali. 

He was deported to Singapore and handed over to the Internal Security Department in January 2019 for investigations into his terrorism-related activities.

That same month, Kazali was given a detention order under the Internal Security Act for supporting Isis.

‘NOT CAUTIOUS ENOUGH’

In the courtroom on Thursday, Kazali’s lawyer Noor Mohamed Marican said that his client realised the seriousness of his crimes as soon as he was arrested and had not disputed his responsibility for his acts.

He now condemns Isis’ actions and has realised that it “misuses religion to promote their violent ideology and spread hatred globally”, Mr Marican said.

The lawyer added that his client had openly declared that had he not been arrested earlier, the situation might have been worse for him. 

“He realised he was not cautious enough when Akel approached him and that’s how it started… Now, he feels he was brainwashed, but it was his fault for not being alert and being influenced by unlawful extremist ideology.”

Mr Marican said that Kazali felt he had been fully rehabilitated since his detention and would “do his duty as a loyal citizen” to create awareness of how dangerous it is to get involved with Isis.

District Judge Jasvender Kaur accepted the prosecution’s sentencing submissions, noting that Isis was one of the largest and most dangerous terrorist organisations worldwide.

Kazali, who appeared in court via a video link, spoke to some family members including his wife and daughter after the court hearing.

Those convicted of providing property and services for terrorist purposes can receive a jail term of up to 10 years or a fine of up to S$500,000, or both.