Authorities arrest woman accused of recruiting new Maute fighters

Government agents have arrested a woman allegedly involved in the recruitment of fighters for the Maute terrorist group in Marawi City and for spreading radical Islamic propaganda, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Wednesday.

Karen Aizha Hamidon was arrested at her residence in Taguig City following a search operation conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation-Counter Terrorism Division on October 11.

She is now facing 14 counts for violation of Article 138 of the Revised Penal Code (inciting a rebellion or insurrection) in relation to Section 6 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (Republic Act of 2012) before the Department of Justice.

Rebellion charges will also be filed by the NBI against Hamidon in relation to her 296 social media posts supposedly calling on foreign and local Muslims to join the fight against government forces in Marawi. 

“The actions of the subject (Hamidon) clearly denote that she was in conspiracy [to commit rebellion],” Aguirre told reporters.

“Even there is no proof of actual conspiracy if, from the acts of the parties, you could deduce that there was the same design, the same purpose that would be proved of the agreement, and so I believe that she is part and parcel of this rebellion happening still in Marawi City,” he added.

She is currently detained at the NBI Detention Center in Manila.

DOJ announces arrest of 36-year-old woman accused of recruiting fighters for Maute group. | via @virgillopez pic.twitter.com/cJ2EDo61zB

— GMA News (@gmanews) October 18, 2017

Aguirre’s announcement came a day after President Rodrigo Duterte declared that the city had been liberated from terrorists, paving the way for rehabilitation efforts.

NBI Director Dante Gierran said Hamidon has been a person of interest to authorities after she “successfully recruited” several Indian nationals to come to the Philippines and join the radical Islamic extremist groups in Mindanao.

Hamidon is said to be the wife of Mohammad Jaafar Maguid, also known as Tokboy and Abu Sharifa, the former leader of the Ansar Khalifa Philippines, the group allegedly responsible in the deadly night market attack in Davao City in September last year.

Maguid was killed by the police in January 2017 in Sarangani province.

Hamidon is also said to be an associate of Australian Islamist preacher Musa Cerantonio and former wife of Muhammad Shamin Mohammed Sidek, a Singaporean national who was detained for his links with the international terror group ISIS.

“Hamidon is also under investigation by other foreign intelligence agencies for her possible links to international terrorist financing and her spreading radical Islamic propaganda,” Gierran said.

Seized from Hamidon were cellphones, laptops, tablets and other electronic devices being used for her alleged illegal online activities.

The NBI also discovered that on the day she was arrested, Hamidon posted a message in social media application Telegram asking local and foreign Muslims to aid Maute fighters.

Duterte had placed the whole of Mindanao under martial law for 60 days after Maute group-led terror organizations attempted to establish an Islamic State province in the island group by assaulting Marawi City on May 23. 

The government then ordered the arrest of more than 300 individuals identified as members of the Maute group, the Abu Sayyaf group, and their sympathizers for the crime of rebellion.

Among those arrested and charged in court were Ominta Romato Maute, also known as Farhana, and Cayamora Maute, parents of Maute group founders Omar and Abdullah, suspected bomb maker Mohammad Noaim Maute, and former Marawi City Mayor Fajad Salic.

The martial law declaration has since been extended by Congress until the end of the year. — RSJ/KBK, GMA News