It’s been awhile since one of the lawyers for Rizieq Shihab, the founder of the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leader and fugitive pornography suspect, informed the media about when their client would return to Indonesia from Saudi Arabia (the last claim was that he would return after the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which turned out to be false – until now, at least).
So it should be taken with a grain of salt when Rizieq’s lawyer, Sugito Atmo Pawiro, says that his client plans return to Indonesia for the next big holiday, and with an entire salt shaker when he says that he isn’t coming back to face the law, but rather just for a brief visit.
“There’s a plan for (Rizieq) coming home for a short while to attend FPI’s anniversary on August 17, 2017, if possible,” Sugito said, as quoted by Kompas today
“If conditions are conducive (for Rizieq’s return) and the (pornography) case (being investigated) by the Jakarta Metro Police is dropped, then yes, he’ll return.”
(Just to be clear, Indonesia’s next big holiday is not, in fact, FPI’s anniversary, but rather Independence Day, which happens to fall on the same date.)
Also Read: ‘The Porno Passion of Rizieq: The Islamic Defenders Front, Playboy and Poetic Justice’
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Sugito added that, after attending FPI’s anniversary, Rizieq plans to return to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, which falls on September 1.
It’s possible that Rizieq and his legal team are testing the police’s reaction to the possibility of the firebrand cleric’s return. After all, the FPI were hopeful that the Jakarta Metro Police would drop Rizieq’s pornography case after former police chief Mochamad Iriawan was replaced with Idham Aziz last week.
But it seems whoever heads the Jakarta Metro Police has no bearing on whether or not an investigation into a criminal case should continue (as it should be). Reacting to Sugito’s announcement of Rizieq’s potential return, Jakarta Metro Police spokesman Argo Yuwono said they would immediately interrogate Rizieq if he were to return.
So, no, don’t bet any money on Rizieq returning on August 17.
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