Habib Rizieq, the spiritual leader of the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) was summoned by the West Java police today for questioning over a criminal report filed by Sukmawati Soekarnoputri alleging that he had insulted Indonesian founding father (and her father) Soekarno and the state ideology of Pancasila. It was the second time he had been summoned to the police after failing to come of his own accord earlier this month.
A large crowd of Rizieq’s supporters, including members of FPI were already waiting for Rizieq at West Java Police Headquarters in Bandung this morning long before his arrival.
An onsite report by Kompas said that members of the police and Rizieq’s supporters got into shoving matches after the FPI leader’s supporters refused to remain in their designated areas away from the police station.
Here’s CNN Indonesia’s report showing when Rizieq arrived at about the 2:00 mark.
According to Tribun News, a number of men in white robes tried to force their way into the police station along with Rizieq once he finally arrived. However, police did not allow them inside. The FPI leader is currently undergoing questioning.
The police were apparently anticipating Rizieq’s arrival being… problematic. “We deployed 500 members of the West Java Police, 100 military personnel plus 200 personnel from the Bandung Police,” West Java Police spokesman Yusri Yunus said as quoted by Kompas.
After Rizieq’s questioning, members of FPI reportedly started brawling with members of the Indonesian General Society Movement (GMBI, an organization the Jakarta Post has described as “shady” and “a pay-for-hire band of bullies”) who came to the station to protest Rizieq’s attacks on Pancasila.
In November, Sukmawati report Rizieq to the police for a speech, made during a sermon in West Java two years ago, in which he supposedly said, “In Soekarno’s Pancasila, god is located in the butt, whereas in the Jakarta charter of the Pancasila, god is in the head.”
Rizieq has also recently been reported to the police by multiple parties for erroneously stating the new rupiah bank notes contain hidden Communist symbols as well for committing blasphemy against Christianity. He is generally considered to be the figurehead of the movement calling for the imprisonment of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama for his alleged blasphemy against Islam.
Correction: An earlier version of this story identified GMBI as an organization that supports FPI leader Habib Rizieq when in fact they were there in opposition to FPI.
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