It’s no secret that Nikita Mirzani is one of the most outspoken Indonesian celebrities out there, but there are concerns about her safety after she made a snide remark about Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab.
The 34-year-old recently went on Instagram live, where she promoted her businesses and mocked Rizieq’s return to Indonesia, which marked the end of his self-imposed exile of more than three years in Saudi Arabia. Nikita said that Rizieq’s welcoming event, which saw thousands of his supporters crowding Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Tuesday, was excessive.
Related — Islamic group apologizes after Rizieq Shihab’s homecoming crowd damaged airport property
“Because of Habib Rizieq’s return to Jakarta, the welcoming [event] was insane, traffic jams everywhere,” Nikita said, adding that her close friend was late for her flight because of the crowd.
“What I know is that habib means tukang obat (medicine man). [Take a] screenshot [of me saying this]. Habib [Rizieq] is a charlatan, don’t glorify him. Prophet Muhammad, He’s clearly a prophet. While this human always makes trouble but he gets a [warm] welcome,” she said, possibly mistaking the Indonesian word habib (an honorific title in Islam) with tabib (medicine man).
The actress-turned-entrepreneur also said she didn’t fear retaliation by Rizieq’s supporters, as they’re known to be fierce when it comes to defending the firebrand cleric.
In response, Maaher At-Thuwailibi, a cleric and colleague of Rizieq, called out Nikita in a video and threatened to bring along hundreds of “Islamic defenders” to raid her home. He even went as far as calling her a lonte, which means slut.
“I warn you in 24 hours if you don’t make a clarification and a public apology, I, Maaher At-Thuwailibi along with an army of 800 Islamic defenders, will besiege your house. I am serious, I’m not playing around, let’s see what happens. Our blood will be poured to defend the honor of the Prophet’s grandson,” Maaher said in the video, making a reference to unsubstantiated claims that Rizieq is a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
Police officers have been guarding Nikita’s home in South Jakarta as a precaution against the threat.
“Since last night, we have employed our officers to conduct patrols, around 10 to 15 people. Because [Nikita’s home] is within my sub-precinct’s territory, therefore we will provide security,” Pesanggrahan sub-precinct chief Rosiana Nurwidajati said today.
Rosiana said she may deploy more officers to guard Nikita’s house today.
Meanwhile, Nikita has been mocking Maaher following his threat.
“I’m a lone woman, but they want to besiege me. Am I that strong? I’ll be too tired to file a police report tomorrow. Why should they threaten me on social media, they could just report me to the police easily. […] But no worries, I still have digital traces [of Maaher and the supporters]. Me being called a lonte by a cleric trended on Twitter. How could an ustadz use such [lewd] language,” Nikita wrote on Instagram.
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