Indonesian Islamist leader named suspect in porn case
JAKARTA: A Indonesian Islami st leader who helped organise mass protests against Jakarta’s Christian governor has been named a suspect in a pornography case, police said yesterday, as authorities seek to rein in hardliners.
Ri zieq Shihab, leader of notorious radical group the Islamic Defenders Front ( FPI), was named a suspect for allegedly exchanging pornog raphic messages with a woman.
Shihab, who is also being investigated by police over a separate defamation case, is currently out of the country after travelling to Saudi Arabia on pilgrimage and has failed to return despite repeated summons from the police for questioning.
Analysts said it was the latest evidence the government of President Joko Widodo was seeking to clamp down on radicals in the world’s most populous Muslim- majority country as fears mount they are growing increasingly influential.
Shihab was a key figure in organising a series of mass rallies last year against Jakarta governor Basuki T jahaja Purnama, an ally of Widodo, over allegations he insulted the Koran while campaigning for reelection.
The c ont rover s y le d to Purnama’s downfall — he lost the election and was jailed for blasphemy for two years this month over the claims — and stoked concerns about rising religious intolerance in a country traditionally regarded as a bastion of tolerant Islam. — AFP