Deported Australian denies recruiting terrorists in PHL

A suspected Australian extremist who was arrested in Cebu and deported last month broke his silence Monday and denied involvement in alleged terrorist activities.

 

In posts on his Twitter account, Musa Cerantonio denied recruiting supporters for the Islamic State group, particularly in Sulu and Basilan.

 

"I have never been to either place, nor did I ever 'recruit' anyone," he said.

The article says I was 'recruiting' in Sulu and Basilan. I have never been to either place, nor did I ever 'recruit' anyone and the --

— Musa Cerantonio (@MusaCerantonio) August 4, 2014

 

He added even the Philippine National Police said it had "no proof of any such 'recruitment,'" yet this "fantasy spreads among shoddy journalists." 

-- Philippine National Police said that they have no proof of any such 'recruitment'. But this fantasy spreads among shoddy journalists...

— Musa Cerantonio (@MusaCerantonio) August 4, 2014

 

Cerantonio was arrested in Cebu last July and was eventually deported.

 

He had allegedly supported "fighters" in Syria and Iraq, and was accused of using the Internet to promote extremism.

 

In arresting Cerantonio in Cebu, Philippine police and immigration teams served a warrant of deportation against him.

 

But his companion Joan Montayre insisted he was innocent and that it was unfair to link him to terrorism, according to a report by GMA Cebu's Bexmae Jumao-as and Alan Domingo. —Joel Locsin/NB, GMA News