Mas Selamat Kastari
Mas Selamat Kastari | |
|---|---|
Picture taken from Interpol website | |
| Born | 23 January 1961 Kendal, Central Java, Indonesia |
| Occupation(s) | Former bus mechanic, alleged head of the Singapore branch of Jemaah Islamiyah |
| Criminal status | Arrested and held by Internal Security Department, under the Internal Security Act |
| Children | 6 |
| Criminal charge | None |
Mas Selamat Kastari (born 23 January 1961) is a Muslim Indonesian-born Singaporean who was, for more than a year, Singapore's most-wanted fugitive after escaping from detention on 27 February 2008. The search for him has been described as the largest manhunt ever launched in Singapore. He was eventually recaptured in Skudai, Malaysia, on 1 April 2009, over a year after his escape, and has since been returned to Singapore. His escape was found to be one of the events in Singapore's history that Singaporeans were most aware of, with 95% being aware of it.
In January 2006, Mas Selamat was arrested by Indonesian anti-terror squads in Java and deported to Singapore. He was suspected of plotting to bomb Singapore Changi Airport in January 2002, and, according to the Singapore Police Force, he had initially planned to do so by crashing a plane into the airport. However, Mas Selamat has never been formally charged with any terrorism-related offences; instead, he was detained under the country's Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial.