Man charged for inviting foreigner with alleged terror links to preach at migrant workers' dormitory

A 51-year-old man has been charged on Thursday (March 27) for allegedly inviting two Bangladeshi nationals for a religious public assembly at Lantana Lodge, a migrant worker dormitory near Tuas South Avenue 4.

In a joint statement on March 27, the Singapore Police Force and the Ministry of Manpower said that Abdus Sattar invited Hamza Md Amir @ Amir Hamza and Ullah Mohammed Neamat to the assembly on Aug 9, 2024.

At the gathering, Amir had allegedly preached to the migrant workers present, while Ullah had allegedly performed songs to the crowd.

Both acts were done without the necessary permits and licences required, resulting in Sattar being charged under the Public Order Act 2009 (POA) and the Public Entertainments Act 1958 (PEA).

Amir is a preacher known for his "extremist and segregationist" views and alleged connection to a pro-al-Qaeda organisation in Bangladesh, according to an earlier statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Aug 21, 2024.

Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam had said then that Amir had managed to enter Singapore undetected by using a passport registered under a different name.

Amir left Singapore the day after the event.

Sattar, who was a director at SBM Electrical & Automation at the time of the alleged offence, was also charged under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act 1990 (EMFA) for allegedly abetting Amir to preaching without the necessary permit.

SBM, the dormitory operator, was also charged under the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act 2015 (Feda) for allegedly failing to maintain an up-to-date record of persons who are not dormitory residents entering and leaving the dormitory.

If convicted, Sattar faces a fine of up to $5,000 under the POA and a fine of up to $20,000 under the PEA.

He also faces a fine of up to $20,000, a jail term of up to two years, or both if convicted under the EFMA.

The dormitory operator faces a fine of $50,000, a jail term of up to one year, or both, for each contravention of licence conditions under the Feda.

The cases involving Sattar and SBM will be mentioned again in court on April 24.

dana.leong@asiaone.com

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