Australian man who posed with assault rifle in 2012 denied entry into S'pore ahead of Trump-Kim meet

He was detained for five hours.

Belmont Lay | June 06, 2018, 11:40 PM

An Australian man, who was a former terror suspect, has been denied entry into Singapore, various media from down under are reporting on June 6, 2018 with the original news broken by Seven News.

Detained by five hours

Zaky Mallah, a Sydney man, was detained at Changi Airport when he flew into Singapore on June 5 night.

Mallah, 34 was questioned about his previous travels to Syria and various other countries in that region.

He was questioned for five hours and held in a holding cell in the Singapore airport, before being turned away.

The last person he called from his phone was a journalist with Seven News in Australia, before he had his device confiscated.

Seven News reported that Singapore suspects Mallah to be a terrorist.

You can watch the 94-second news clip here:

While he was detained, Mallah was asked about his 2012 photo taken in Syria, where he posed with an assault rifle:

“They asked me questions about my history, my dealings with the Australian government, ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation), my trip to Turkey, Syria,” Mallah said.

“They asked me if I was in Syria fighting, more or less.”

Mallah told Seven News he believed an upcoming summit with United States President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un was the reason he was arrested.

“The last thing they need is someone like me with my history to be in the same country as that,” Mallah said, insisting he has changed since his charges more than a decade ago.

“I did the crime, I served the time, and life moves on,” he said.

The crime Mallah is referring to occurred in 2002.

Mallah charged under anti-terror laws previously

Mallah was first person to be charged under new anti-terror laws in Australia.

This was after he made a video in which he threatened to kill security officials and then commit suicide. He sold the video to an ASIO officer posing as a journalist.

He was ultimately acquitted on the terror charges in 2005, instead pleading guilty to threatening violence against Commonwealth officials. He received a two-and-a half-year jail sentence, but was released on a two-year good behaviour bond.

Mallah has a reputation for courting media attention. This occurred after an infamous appearance on live television in 2015

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He admitted his Singapore trip was poorly timed, and said he believes he was seen by authorities as a security threat for the summit.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have confirmed the detention of an Australian in Singapore, and will provide no further comment, a spokesperson said.

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