In this May 15, 2020 photo, a man rests along Merlion park in Singapore. (Roslan RAHMAN / AFP)
SINGAPORE - Singapore has detained a 16-year-old for intending to attack two mosques, plans authorities said were inspired by the killing of Muslim worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2019.
The 16-year-old boy is the youngest person to be detained under Singapore's colonial-era Internal Security Act, and the first person in the low crime island nation to be detained for far-right extremist ideology
The boy is the youngest person to be detained under Singapore's colonial-era Internal Security Act, which allows authorities to detain anyone seen as a threat to security for up to two years.
He is also the first in the low crime island nation to be detained for far-right extremist ideology, where there have been a number of cases involving Islamic extremism, including a 17-year-old arrested for supporting Islamic State last year.
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The boy, an unnamed Christian of Indian ethnicity, had purchased a tactical vest online and had intended to also buy a machete at the time of his arrest in December, the Internal Security Department (ISD) said in a statement on Wednesday.
“He was self-radicalized, motivated by a strong antipathy towards Islam and a fascination with violence. He watched the live-streamed video of the terrorist attack on the two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand and read the manifesto of the attacker, Brenton Tarrant,” the department said.
He had conducted reconnaissance of the mosques near his home, intended to livestream his attack and prepared statements that referenced Christchurch attacker Brenton Tarrant who is serving life imprisonment for killing 51 Muslim worshippers and injuring dozens of others on March 15, 2019.
Initially, the student wanted to procure a gun while exploring the feasibility of making a bomb, and mimicking Tarrant’s plan of setting fire to the mosques with gasoline. He eventually gave up on all these ideas when he realized Singapore had strict gun-control laws and the decision was partly driven by logistical and personal safety concerns.
"He could only foresee two outcomes to his plan: that he is arrested before he is able to carry out the attacks, or he executes the plan and is thereafter killed by the Police," the ISD said, adding he planned to carry out the attack on the anniversary of the Christchurch killings.
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Home Minister K. Shanmugam said on Wednesday that he would be given psychological counselling and will be able to continue his education while in detention but may not face criminal charges.
"It would be said in a court of law, that he was only thinking about it. He has planned it, but he hasn't actually taken a step yet. So, in many countries, without laws similar to the Internal Security Act, you can't move early until there is some further act of preparation," Shanmugam told local broadcaster ChannelNewsAsia.
With Bloomberg inputs