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Jokowi rejects Islamists’ plea to drop porn case against Rizieq
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Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab speaks to reporters before facing police questioning at the Jakarta Police headquarters on Feb. 1, 2017 for alleged treason. 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)
P
resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has rejected the demand made by an Islamist group linked to the 2016 sectarian rally in Jakarta that he drop the pornography case against Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab, the State Palace has said.
The group, calling itself the 212 Rally Alumni, conveyed their demand during a meeting with Jokowi at the Bogor Palace in West Java last week.
Presidential spokesperson Johan Budi said that Jokowi entrusted the law enforcement body with the case and he was certain that the authorities would be professional in handling it.
"The President does not want to intervene in the legal process," Johan told journalists on Friday.
The 212 Alumni comprises Islamic groups as well as activists who participated in a massive rally on Dec. 2, 2016, that called for the prosecution of then-Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama for blasphemy.
They believe that a string of cases against their leaders, including Rizieq, are politically motivated.
Rizieq, who fled to Saudi Arabia, was charged with pornography after a steamy conversation allegedly involving him and a woman was leaked and went viral online. (ahw)
