Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leader Habib Rizieq has been reported to the police for numerous crimes recently, ranging from spreading misinformation about the rupiah to committing blasphemy against Christianity, but all of those accusations are likely to be forgotten while the public and the media examine and pour over every salacious detail of an alleged sex scandal involving Rizieq which has recently surfaced online.
The information posted online alleges that the FPI leader was intimately involved with a woman named Firza Husein, who was one of the people questioned over an alleged treason attempt against the government late last year due to her close relationships with the other suspects, including pop star-turned-politician Ahmad Dhani and former army general Kivlan Zein.
Yesterday, a recording of a phone conversation that allegedly took place between Firza and someone named Emma went viral online. During the call, Firza confided in Emma about the stresses of being the woman whom Rizieq (who is married) is having an affair with. Firza repeatedly told Emma that she threatened Rizieq if he continued playing her.
A video of the phone recording as well as its transcription (in Bahasa Indonesia) was uploaded to Youtube by a user named Gerilya Politik. At the time of writing, the video was the number 1 trending video on Youtube Indonesia:
In addition, screenshots of chats that supposedly took place between Rizieq and Firza on WhatsApp have also gone viral. The chat logs detail the pair allegedly sexting with each other, with Rizieq asking for Firza’s nude photos on several occasions. Accompanying the Whatsapp screenshots were nude photos of a woman, who netizens have noted bears a striking resemblance to Firza.
That said, there is no concrete evidence that any of the allegations are true and the possibility remains that all or part of the evidence leaked online could have been manufactured as part of a smear campaign against the FPI leader. While neither Rizieq nor Firza have responded to the allegations, other FPI leaders have spoken to the media to defend Rizieq.
“I can confirm that this is a vile lie. This is the work of those who are using any means to criminalize ulemas,” said FPI Jakarta secretary general Habib “Fitsa Hats” Novel, as quoted by JPNN today.
Rizieq’s legal representative, Kapitra Ampera, claims they already know who started the allegations, which they described as a hoax.
“We are investigating this person, but we are not going to be drawn into this. We’re only going to find who spread this. We will report them [to the police] because this is a violation of UU ITE (Information and Electronic Transactions Act),” Kapitra said, as quoted by Tribun.
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