Arrest of ex-detainee who returned to old ways shows de-radicalisation is not easy

A law graduate turned self-radicalised terrorist, who had spent three years in detention but went back to his old ways, was re-arrested last September.

Revealing his case in Parliament yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean cited it as proof of how difficult it is to de-radicalise someone once he has been drawn to terrorist ideology.

That is why Singapore must keep at investing in the rehabilitation of its terrorist detainees, said DPM Teo during the debate on the budget of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Abdul Basheer, who was drawn to terrorism through the Internet - hence the label of self-radicalised or more commonly known as a do-it-yourself terrorist - was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 2007, after he made plans for militant jihad in Afghanistan.

-- Courtesy of The Straits Times