S'pore PR, 23, charged for allegedly helping to finance terrorist acts in Gaza, will not plead guilty

A 23-year-old Singapore permanent resident and Myanmar national was charged in court on Jul. 29 after he allegedly transferred money to facilitate terrorist acts in Gaza.

Charge sheets seen by Mothership stated that the man, Saw Ryan Htoo, would not be pleading guilty.

CNA reported that his family plans to engage a lawyer.

Charges

Saw is accused of transferring US$72.28 (S$93.45) on or about Aug. 9, 2024, to a PayPal account that belonged to an individual named "Bradley Sainsbury".

He allegedly did so for the purpose of facilitating a terrorist act in Gaza City.

Subsequently, on around Aug. 19, the accused allegedly attempted to transfer another US$1 (S$1.29) to a PayPal account linked to a person named Meredith Pollick for the same purpose.

Radicalised

According to a Jul. 28 Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) press release, the Internal Security Department (ISD) initiated investigations against the accused after his extremist postings came to the authorities' attention.

ISD's investigations revealed that he was radicalised after consuming extremist content online.

He developed a strong hatred towards Muslims in 2024 after being exposed to Islamophobic content online in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attacks against Israel.

The man began to subscribe to an extremist interpretation of Zionism, and believed that the killing of Palestinian Muslims was justified.

By early 2025, the accused had also developed a strong hatred towards Jews after he consumed far-right extremist and anti-Semitic narratives on social media.

He began posting online, expressing support for the use of violence against Jews and Muslims, as well as other groups typically targeted by far-right extremists.

These included immigrants to Europe and the LGBT community.

Transferred money

In August 2024, the accused transferred funds to an overseas-based user with whom he was in contact on the platform "X".

The user claimed to be soliciting donations online to purchase military equipment, apparently to facilitate a terrorist act in Gaza City.

The act was aimed at eradicating all Palestinians, including civilians.

Penalties

CNA reported that the case was adjourned for a pre-trial conference in August.

If convicted of financing terrorism, or attempting to finance terrorism, he faces a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to S$500,000, or both.