ISD's Reply to Media Queries on the Detention of Singaporean Jemaah Islamiyah Fugitive Mohamed Hassan Bin Saynudin

1.   Mohamed Hassan bin Saynudin (Hassan; aged 48), a senior member of the Singapore Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network, was detained in April 2022 under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for his involvement in terrorism-related activities.  He fled Singapore in December 2001 in the wake of ISD’s security operations against the JI, and took refuge overseas.  Whilst overseas, Hassan had continued to be involved in terrorism activities, and was consequently incarcerated for terrorism offences.  Upon the completion of his sentence in March 2022, he was deported to Singapore and arrested under the ISA for investigation.  He is the last of the JI fugitives to be brought back to Singapore.

2.   Hassan formally joined the Singapore JI network in 1999.  He underwent paramilitary training in Singapore and Malaysia, as well as five months of terrorist training in Afghanistan with Al-Qaeda in 2000, where he learnt to handle weapons and explosives, and was trained in reconnaissance operations.  He was appointed to the JI Shura (Consultative Council) in 2001, and was involved in the JI’s recruitment efforts in Singapore. Following the 9/11 terror attacks, Hassan directed and participated in reconnaissance of local and foreign targets in Singapore, to facilitate the JI’s attack plans. ^[1] While on the run overseas, Hassan was also involved in a plot led by former Singapore JI leader, Mas Selamat bin Kastari, to hijack an airplane from Bangkok, Thailand, to crash into the Changi Airport Control Tower, in retaliation against ISD’s arrests of JI members.

3.   Hassan continues to subscribe to violent radical beliefs.  Coupled with his extensive terrorism involvement including attack plans targeting Singapore, Hassan is assessed to pose an imminent security threat requiring preventive detention.

Internal Security Department
10 June 2022

[1] Targets included City Hall MRT station, Bishan MRT Depot, Paya Lebar Airbase, and Khatib Army Camp, as well as foreign/Western interests in Singapore, such as the Israeli Embassy, American companies, and nightclubs along Orchard Road perceived to be frequented by Westerners.