Son of Singapore’s Most-Famous Fugitive Arrested at His Own Wedding Reception in C. Java

The Jakarta Globe, October 25, 2013


Muhammad Hanif bin Mas Selamat, better known as Masyhadi, is being held at an undisclosed location and his family have not been told of his whereabouts, Achmad said.

“If he is officially detained, then where is he being kept?” Achmad said. “His family wants to see him.”

Achmad said Masyadi had lived in Indonesia since primary-school age, and had studied at a Muslim boarding school in Boyolali before going on to become a preacher in Pacitan and Madiun, two towns in East Java.

“He then got married,” Achmad said. “The betrothal was on July 28; the official wedding was on Sept. 6; and the reception was on Oct. 20 at the MUI Building.”

Achmad could not say whether Masyadi had ever held Singaporean citizenship, or whether his current identity documents were in order.

An investigator from the National Police’s specialist anti-terror unit Densus 88 said, however, that the arrest was purely an immigration matter and denied knowledge of any connection to terrorism.

“The detective office’s general crime section is the only one dealing with this, and — so far — there is no indication that [Masyhadi] is involved in terrorism,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Masyhadi’s father is a figure many in Singapore’s government would wish to forget.

Mas Selamat bin Kastari was arrested in Indonesia in 2006 and handed over to Singapore on suspicions that he had plotted to hijack a plane out of Bangkok and crash it into Changi Airport.

Singapore has never proven that Mas Selamat was a terrorist. After arriving in Singapore, Mas Selamat was incarcerated without trial under Singapore’s Internal Security Act and held at a detention center.

On Feb. 27, 2008, Mas Selamat escaped out of an open bathroom window at Whitley Road Detention Center. Officers standing guard outside the bathroom did not check on him for 11 minutes, a government inquiry later said.

It later emerged that Mas Selamat made his way to Malaysia across the Straits of Johor on a raft.

He was recaptured in April, 2009, and transferred back to detention. He remains incarcerated without trial in Singapore.

Authorities in Indonesia remained tight lipped about the arrest of Hanif.

Brig. Gen. Herry Prastowo, director for general crimes at the National Police detective’s office, was not immediately available to comment, while his deputy, Sr. Cmr. Toni Hermanto, said he was not aware of the arrest.



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