Indonesia Highlights: Indonesia to Receive Over 30 Million Covid-19 Vaccines to the End of 2021 | Jakarta Metropolitan Police to Secure Trial of Islamic Firebrand Rizieq Shihab | Mob Attempts to Storm

Jakarta Metropolitan Police to Secure Trial of Islamic Firebrand Rizieq Shihab

The Jakarta Metropolitan Police will deploy 659 men to the East Jakarta District Court to secure the venue, as the trial of Islamic firebrand Rizieq Shihab, the former chairman of the recently banned Islamic Defenders Front or FPI, is expected to start on Tuesday, March 16.

“The security is carried out to anticipate the large number of [Rizieq’s] followers. 555 of the men are from theJakarta Metropolitan Police, while the rest are from the East Jakarta Police Department,” said East Jakarta Police Department chief Police Grand Commissioner Erwin Kurniawan.

Speaking on Monday, Erwin added that the police “will also be reinforced with soldiers from the Army’s Jakarta Garrison.” He did not disclose how many will be deployed to anticipate the unrest.

Erwin also insisted that visitors comply with health protocols, such as not converging in crowd, as they came to offer moral support to Rizieq.

Rizieq’s attorney Sugito Atmo Prawiro confirmed that his followers will come to the hearing. Prosecutors have charged Rizieq with violating a number of health protocols, among them attracting crowds near FPI’s offices in Petamburan, Central Jakarta, and Megamendung, West Java.

The cleric was also charged for withholding the results of his swab test at the Ummi Hospital in Bogor, West Java.

Rizieq’s legal troubles, which included a confrontation with the police on a toll road outside Jakarta that killed six of his followers, occurred following his return from exile in Saudi Arabia in November 2020.

Source:

https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2021/03/15/20115021/sidang-perdana-rizieq-shihab-di-pn-jaktim-659-personel-antisipasi-massa. 

Mob Attempts to Storm Democrat Party Headquarters in Jakarta

The internal conflict dividing former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or SBY’s Democrat Party has spilled onto the streets of Jakarta, after a 30-strong crowd attempted to storm the party’s headquarters in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Monday evening.

The Antara state news agency reported that the mob, who claimed to be university students, demanded party head and SBY’s son Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono or AHY to clarify his statement that he received the support of university students.

“University student should not be involved in tensions within any political parties,” said representatives of the group.

Antara added that the group met with Democrat Party spokesman Herzaky Mahendra Putra, who verified that a student delegation met with Agus. Herzaky also maintained that the student, who came from 10 universities around the Jakarta area, offered their support.