TheJakartaPost
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Singaporean Embassy responds
The Singapore Embassy in Jakarta clarifies two factual inaccuracies in The Jakarta Post's June 8, 2022 article on the attempt of conservative Muslim preacher Abdul Somad Batubara, an Indonesian national, to enter the neighboring country.
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Abdul Somad Batubara (Courtesy of /Instagram @ustadzabdulsomad)
I
refer to the article "Singapore's Somad debacle stirs questions on intolerance" published in The Jakarta Post on June 8, 2022. The article contains factual inaccuracies.
First, it is incorrect to state that several "followers of Somad" were “arrested last week" and "investigated under the Internal Security Act (ISA)" following the denial of entry of Abdul Somad Batubara (Somad) into Singapore on May 16.
The Singapore authorities did not arrest any individual in connection with Somad's attempt to enter Singapore on May 16. The writer may have misunderstood comments made by Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam on May 23.
Minister K. Shanmugam said that a 17-year-old male had been detained under the ISA in January 2020. The individual in question had been watching Somad's YouTube lectures on suicide bombing. This incident took place two years ago, and not after Somad's attempted entry into Singapore.
Second, the article inaccurately represented the data on terrorism-related cases in Singapore. While the article stated that "At least 54 cases of terrorism-related conduct were recorded from 2015 to 2019", it would be more accurate to state that "at least 54 individuals were issued with ISA orders for terrorism-related conduct from 2015 to June 2021, according to official data".
This statistic was published in the Singapore Terrorism Threat Assessment Report 2021, which is available online.
The Singapore government takes a serious view of any persons who advocate violence and/or espouse extremist and segregationist teachings. Singapore and Indonesia are close neighbors, and we will continue to work closely together to advance our multifaceted bilateral cooperation.
Samuel Woon
First secretary (political)
Embassy of the Republic of Singapore
Jakarta
