Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Dozens of members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) demanded the
City Council on Monday to pass a bylaw forbidding entertainment
venues and nightspots in the capital from operating during the
upcoming Islamic fasting month or Ramadhan.
They also urged the police to take action against those
nightspots that remain open during the fasting month, or the FPI
members would raid them.
FPI secretary-general Ahmad Shabri Lubis delivered the message
in a protest in front of the City Council and City Hall in
Central Jakarta.
Around 100 FPI members donning white Muslim dresses arrived on
trucks and vans and staged free speech, saying that the closure
of nightspots and entertainment venues during the fasting month
was purely to respect Muslim customs.
Governor Sutiyoso said he would issue a decree next week
regulating the operation of nightspots during the fasting month,
as the city was unlikely to issue a bylaw within the remaining
two weeks before the fasting month begins.
The governor warned FPI members not to "sweep" entertainment
centers, as this was a crime.
The governor issues a decree each year, prohibiting
entertainment venues such as discotheques and bars, as well as
massage parlors, from operating during the fasting month.
Deputy chairman of Council Commission E for peoples' welfare
Ahmadi Hasan Ishak echoed the governor's warning, adding that
police would arrest any FPI members who raided nightspots, as
"they only create another problem".
Hasan also said that a gubernatorial decree was enough for
regulating the operation of entertainment venues during Ramadhan.
Councillor Abdul Azis Matnur of the Justice Party said
councillors had submitted a draft bylaw on the issue last year,
but no response had been forthcoming from the city
administration.
During the demonstration, the FPI members also reiterated
their demand for the release of their leader Habib Mohammad
Rizieq, who was sentenced to seven months in prison last August
by the Central Jakarta District Court for causing unrest among
the community and disturbing public order.
Having already served four months, Rizieq is scheduled to be
released from Salemba Penitentiary in November.
Last year, the FPI committed a string of raids, attacking
bars, restaurants and billiard centers and vandalizing their
property.
The group defended its actions, saying they were motivated by
Islamic teachings and that nightspots were places of sin.
The FPI was disbanded in the aftermath of the Bali bombing
last October, but was reformed early this year.