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Rizieq Shihab held sermons and gatherings that drew tens of thousands. PHOTO: REUTERS
May 28, 2021 06:00 am
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JAKARTA A firebrand Indonesian cleric was jailed yesterday for holding sermons and other gatherings that drew tens of thousands of followers, breaking virus restrictions.
The eight-month prison term handed to Rizieq Shihab comes several months after Indonesia outlawed his influential hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) in the aftermath of a deadly shoot-out between police and his followers.
Yesterday, East Jakarta District Court jailed Rizieq for urging supporters to attend sermons, a celebration of the Prophet Mohammed s birthday, and his daughter s wedding. All drew huge crowds in a country hard hit by the pandemic.
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.
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