As stories about FPI founder Rizieq Shihab’s pornography case, and people being attacked by the FPI for making fun of his pornography case, continue to dominate headlines, lawyers for the hardline group’s leader have been telling the media all sort of different things about when Rizieq will return from Saudi Arabia (where he is currently hiding from the police) and face the charges against him.
Rizieq was named a suspect one week ago, and since then his lawyers have generally spoken vaguely about the probability of him coming home “soon”, though for a short time they said he would return last week and then on June 17. Yesterday, one member of his legal team, Sugito Atmo Prawiro, said there was a chance that the FPI leader “might return next week” but just hours later told the media that Rizieq would not be returning to Indonesia anytime soon.
“We have a plan [for Rizieq] to long stay or extend his visa. Later there is somebody who can arrange a year-long visa for him,” Sugito said as quoted by Tribun.
According to Sugito, the pornography charges Rizieq is facing were engineered by President Joko Widodo (in revenge for Rizieq’s role in having former Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama jailed for blasphemy), and indicated that the FPI leader would not return to the country while Jokowi remained president. However, he denied that was because Rizieq was trying to avoid the legal process.
The Jakarta Police have placed Rizieq on their most wanted list, issued a warrant for his arrest and asked Interpol to issue a red notice that would allow him to be arrested and extradited from other countries. They have not canceled his Indonesian passport but said they would wait for his current visa in Saudi Arabia to expire so he would be forced to return home.
However, Sugito indicated that his client would be able to find a way to extend his visa or ask for asylum status in Saudi Arabia.
“The Saudis know that the case is political, not a matter which required the issuance of a red notice, such as corruption, drugs or human rights violations,” Sugito said as quoted by CNN Indonesia.
There has already been speculation that the Saudi government has given Rizieq a special invitational visa which has allowed him to enter the country twice within a single 30-day period supposedly both times on Umrah pilgrimage visas (which most Indonesians have to wait years to obtain).
Given how often Rizieq’s lawyers have been changing their story and the unlikelihood of some of their statements (such as Rizieq meeting with representatives of the United Nations Human Rights Councils) this may simply be more misinformation. But if it’s true, and he is somehow granted asylum, it could be the start of a very tense diplomatic battle between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
