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Jakarta Police intensify investigation into FPI leader WhatsApp case
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Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab is escorted by detectives after undergoing questioning at the Jakarta Police headquarters on Feb. 1. The police also arrested a woman who allegedly had intimate conversations with Rizieq, and later raided her house in East Jakarta. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
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n their investigation into alleged screen grabs of WhatsApp sex chats that supposedly took place between Firza Husein and Islam Defenders Front leader Rizieq Shihab, the Jakarta Police summonsed witnesses just days after the case was reported to the force.
“We have questioned six witnesses who know or understand information related to the case,” Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
He refused to reveal names, but said that a digital forensics expert was among the witnesses questioned.
The police changed the status of the case from a reported case to an investigation on Tuesday, one day after a group calling itself the Student Alliance for Anti-Pornography filed a police report and claimed that the screen grabs had disrupted public order.
On Wednesday, the police raided Firza house in East Jakarta and confiscated bed sheets, pillows and a television.
The police have yet to name any suspects in the case and will question more witnesses, Argo said
“We do not plan to summon Rizieq’s wife yet, but if the investigators need a statement from her, we will question her,” Argo said.
Argo said that Firza, who has been named a treason suspect, and Rizieq, who is under investigation for allegedly insulting state ideology Pancasila, could both be charged under the 2008 Pornography Law and the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law if found guilty of producing or spreading pornographic material.
Rizieq has denied the allegations, saying that it was an attempt to discredit him. (dmr)
