Rizieq faces 7-month jail term

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Chairman of the radical Islam Defenders Front (FPI) Habib Rizieq Shihab faces a seven-month jail term for allegedly insulting authorities and the vandalism of entertainment spots in Jakarta.

Prosecutor Hasan Basrie requested the sentence at the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday. He said that the defendant was guilty of instigating violence in public places and rejecting police authority.

In October last year, Rizieq expressed resentment and insulted the Jakarta administration during a dialog broadcast by a private television station, Hasan said.

"We request the court to sentence the defendant to seven months in jail," he told the court, presided over by Judge Herry Swantoro.

Rizieq was charged with Article 154 of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in jail.

According to the prosecutor, Rizieq distributed a circular to FPI members, supporters and its Pemuda Laskar (youth fighters), which contained instructions to target locations that they specified were immoral.

They targeted entertainment spots providing liquor, drugs, gambling and prostitution, and destroyed "immoral" advertisements in public places, he said.

FPI was involved in the destruction of entertainment venues in the city several years ago.

Their actions had caused widespread fear and injured a number of people, Hasan said.

The prosecutor cited the belief that "the defendant still may repair his past mistakes" as a mitigating factor.

Rizieq was first detained on Oct. 16, 2002, at Salemba penitentiary in Central Jakarta.

He is currently being treated at the police hospital in East Jakarta for the symptoms of food poisoning, after eating a meal at the penitentiary on July 8.

The court has adjourned the trial until next week.