Indonesian prisons have banned civilian leader for violating COVID | Coronavirus News Plague
Rizieq Shihab has been found guilty of a number of crimes, including the marriage of a girl, in which thousands of people attended.
An Indonesian court has jailed a powerful religious leader Rizieq Shihab for eight months and fined 20 million Indonesian ($ 1,400) fines for holding sermons and other rallies that persuaded dozens of his followers to break international law after returning last year from their own – their release.
He was detained for several months from Indonesia banned Rizieq’s Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) followed a shotgun fired by police.
A court in East Jakarta on Thursday found that Rizieq had violated Indonesian privacy by encouraging his followers to attend meetings, to celebrate Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, and the marriage of their daughter. All of this has attracted thousands of people to a country that has withstood the onslaught of COVID-19 in Southeast Asia.
“The judge has been found guilty of violating health regulations,” Judge Suparman Nyompa told the audience. Rizieq also paid a fine at a meeting held at an Islamic school in West Java.
The federal court showed Rizieq wearing a white robe, a turban and a mask over his face, and carrying beads of prayer.
He has been in prison ever since judgment in December and the court ruled that his sentence would be reduced to three months’ notice.
Five other senior FPI members each received eight months in prison in preparation for the rally.
About 3,000 police officers were sent to guard the court before the verdict, but there were no major protests by his supporters. Local media reports say about a dozen people have been arrested in brief.
Rizieq returned to Indonesia in November after a three-year stint in Saudi Arabia, where he had fled charges of sexual harassment and defamation. Both cases were dropped.
Thousands of his followers lined up at the airport to celebrate his return and take him to the meetings in the days that followed even though there were rules to limit the size of the meetings.
His legal team said the allegations were political in nature and part of a plot to assassinate a Muslim leader, who has a large audience.
Shihab, who has been in prison in the past, including threats from FPI members at a religious meeting in 2008, has denied recent allegations and said he could complain.
He was arrested shortly afterwards Jakarta police shot dead six FPI supporters in a street fight the authorities described them as a way to defend themselves – which they oppose the group.
The FPI has become a political force in Indonesia in recent years, and it was one of the strongest religions that ever existed Meetings in 2016 to bring the Christian governor of Jakarta on trial for blasphemy. Major protests against the ambassador caused much concern to President Joko Widodo’s government over the threat.
Indonesia banned a strong group last year.
