An Indonesian court has jailed hardline religious leader Rizieq Shihab for eight months and fined him 20 million Indonesian rupiah ($1,400) for holding sermons and other gatherings that drew tens of thousands of followers in breach of the country’s coronavirus rules after his return last year from self-imposed exile.
The prison term comes several months after Indonesia banned Rizieq’s Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) following a gun battle in which police shot dead of his followers.
The East Jakarta court on Thursday found Rizieq violated Indonesia’s health quarantine law by urging supporters to attend sermons, a celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, and his daughter’s wedding. All of which drew thousands of people in a country that has endured the worst COVID-19 outbreak in Southeast Asia.