FPI leader released from prison

FPI leader released from prison

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) chairman Habib Rizieq Shihab was
released from Salemba Penitentiary in Central Jakarta on
Wednesday.

Rizieq, bearing the title of Habib, a legacy of his ethnic
Arab heritage and apparent ability to trace his ancestry to
Islam's Prophet Muhammad, was released after having served his
seven-month sentence in prison.

He was found guilty of organizing mob attacks on bars and
restaurants in the capital in the past several years. He was also
found guilty of inciting violence and spreading hatred against
the lawful government.

During sentencing on Aug. 11, Rizieq had already been in
detention for four months.

FPI's paramilitary wing has become a notorious part of the
city because of their violent raids on night clubs, massage
parlors and entertainment centers which they consider to be dens
of sin, and thus contrary to Islamic law.

Upon his release from the penitentiary at 9 a.m., around 500
supporters greeted and accompanied him to parade around the city
in open trucks, cars and motorcycles on their way to their
headquarters in Petamburan, Central Jakarta.

Before cruising around in his Mazda E-200 van, Rizieq briefed
his supporters, telling them to "continue the struggle to crush
corrupt officials and those who protect immorality."

When asked whether he planned to carry out more raids on night
clubs, he said the FPI would only report sinful practices to the
police.

"However, we will also monitor whether or not the police take
action against those places we informed them about," he said.

He also asserted that FPI had never been dissolved.

FPI's paramilitary wing was said to have disbanded in the
aftermath of last year's Bali bombings, but later regrouped and
have not been very active in Jakarta.

Also in his talk he said that he would make an all-out effort
to "save the country's dignity and values".

"The means to that end is by upholding Islamic sharia," he
asserted, while adding that justice in the country would never be
realized unless the sharia was enforced.

Rizieq was first detained on Oct. 16 last year but was later
released. He was rearrested in February after reportedly
traveling to Iraq, apparently with the intent of mobilizing FPI
members to help that country defend itself against the United
States invasion.