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Crackdown on FPI sets off alarm bells
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Security personnel dismantle Islam Defenders Front (FPI) paraphernalia as they close down the group's headquarters in Petamburan, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020.
(Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
T
he intensifying crackdown by the authorities on the Islam Defenders Front (FPI)—a once-fringe Islamist group that now poses a serious challenge to the administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo—has sparked concerns among prodemocracy activists.
The government continues to step up its pressures on the vigilante group, which has become increasingly political since the 2014 presidential election and the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election during which it spearheaded sectarian campaigns against President Jokowi and his ally, Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who replaced him as Jakarta governor.
The authorities have outlawed the group, which was established shortly after then-president Soeharto’s downfall and quickly gained notoriety for its antics of raiding nightclubs as part of its religious war on “vice”. In a joint decree signed by six high-level officials to justify its banning, the government stated the FPI violated the 2017 Mass Organization Law for having a statute that contradicts the state ideology of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, had failed to renew its registration with the Law and Human Ministry, engaged in vigilantism and had dozens of members implicated in terrorism.
In its latest move against the group, National Police chief Gen. Idham Azis issued on Friday a circular on the banning of the FPI’s symbols, attributes and paraphernalia. The circular contains a provision banning the public from accessing, uploading or distributing content produced by the FPI on a website or through social media.
While the move has gained support from a large section of society, particularly those perturbed by the FPI’s antics, civil society groups and press associations have expressed concerns that the government’s crackdown on the Islamist group is excessive and sets a bad precedent that could further curtail civil liberties.
Read also: FPI officials form new organization after govt bans group
Human rights organizations have blasted the police chief’s circular banning the public from accessing FPI content, saying that the policy violates human rights. “Access to internet content is part of right to information protected by the 1945 Constitution, especially in Article 28F, and other legislation, including Article 14 of the 1999 Human Rights Law,” they said in a joint statement released on Saturday.
