Jakarta – The police have refuted a statement by Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) General Secretary Munarman who said that all criminal investigations against fugitive FPI leader Rizieq Shihab have been dropped.
National police public relations and information division chief Brigadier General Dedi Prasetyo said that the Orders to Stop Investigation (SP3s) which have been issued by police only apply to the West Java provincial police’s investigation into an alleged insult against the state ideology of Pancasila and the Metro Jaya Jakarta police’s investigation into a pornographic sex chat case.
“I’ve already asked the Bareskrim [Criminal Investigations Directorate] and there’s no such information. The Bareskrim said they are still in the process of handling several cases [against Shihab]”, said Prasetyo at the national police headquarters in South Jakarta on Tuesday July 16.
Prasetyo however was unable to give any details on which particular cases are still being handled by the police in relation to Shihab.
“I’m not familiar [with the details]. [But] his cases are clear, some have been SP3ed, while those which have not yet been SP3ed are in progress”, he said.
Based on data gathered by CNN Indonesia, the cases that are still being pursued by police against Shihab include the case of an image on a 100,000 rupiah note which Shihab claimed resembled the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) hammer-and-sickle. This case has already reached the stage of a criminal investigation.
The police are also still investigating an alleged case of hate speech by Shihab which was reported by the Indonesian Catholic Students Association. The case relates to a speech by Shihab posted on YouTube which insulted the Christian community.
Police are also investigating one other case related to a statement by Shihab in which he referred to Jakarta police chief Inspector General Mochamad Iriawan as having the “mind of a civil guard”.
Shihab fled to Saudi Arabia in May 2017, two weeks after police declared him a suspect in a pornography sex chat case, although the case was dropped by police in 2018. (gst/arh)
Notes
Fugitive FPI leader Rizieq Shihab has been hiding in Saudi Arabia for more than a year and according to the Indonesian Embassy he is unable to leave due an outstanding fine of US$7,000 for overstaying his visa. FPI leaders – who recently claimed that all of the criminal cases against Shihab have now been dropped – say that Shihab has attempted to depart Saudi Arabia for Malaysia on three occasions but has been blocked from doing so by a “powerful” institution alluding to the Indonesian spy agency BIN. They are therefore demanding that the Indonesian government pay the fine since they are responsible for his overstay.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Polri Bantah Munarman: Kasus-Kasus Rizieq Masih Diproses”.]
