Former part-time religious teacher detained under ISA after becoming more radicalised despite restriction order

SINGAPORE — A former part-time religious teacher and housewife was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in April this year after the authorities discovered that she has become even more radicalised in the eight months after she was issued a restriction order.

In a statement on Wednesday (June 9), the Internal Security Department (ISD) said that it had issued the two-year restriction order on Ruqayyah Ramli, 34, in August last year to limit her movement and use of the internet — after she was found to have been radicalised by her husband, Malaysian Mohd Firdaus Kamal Intdzam.

Investigations at the time established that she had supported Firdaus’ intention to join and fight for the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis) in Syria. She was willing to accompany him to the conflict zone, where she intended to take care of the family and assist wounded Isis fighters.

Firdaus was deported from Singapore in August last year.

Eight months after the restriction order was placed on her, ISD said that there was an escalation in Ruqayyah’s radical behaviour and involvement in activities prejudicial to
Singapore’s security.

“Ruqayyah has refused to make any genuine effort to participate in the rehabilitation programme and remains entrenched in her radical beliefs. She continues to support Isis’ violent actions and believes in the use of violence against the perceived enemies of Islam.” 

Ruqayyah persisted in communicating online with overseas Isis supporters who were associates of her husband’s, ISD added. 

“She was thus detained to prevent her from progressing further down the violent radical path.” 

ISD also announced on Wednesday that two self-radicalised Singaporeans were released from detention last month as they had shown good progress in their rehabilitation and were deemed to no longer pose a security threat. 

Mohamed Faishal Mohd Razali, 30, was released on a suspension direction, after being detained for slightly more than three years since April 2018 as he wanted to pursue armed violence in overseas conflicts. 

Kuthubdeen Haja Najumudeen, 38, was released from a restriction order. He was a follower of Sri Lankan radical preacher Zahran Hashim, the mastermind and one of the suicide bombers involved in the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka in April 2019. 

ISD also said that it issued a restriction order to Ahmed Hussein Abdul Kadir Sheik Uduman, a Singaporean, in May this year after he had completed his prison sentence. 

He had been detained in August 2018 for supporting Isis and was jailed for 30 months for terrorism financing offences. 

ISD had continued to reach out to Hussein to rehabilitate him during his imprisonment. 

“He has since made good progress in his rehabilitation and is assessed to no longer pose a security threat requiring preventive detention,” it added.