Indonesia: Rizieq Shihab jailed for concealing COVID test result Coronavirus pandemic News

The court has jailed him for saying he is healthy despite being a positive leader of a banned religious group despite testing positive for COVID-19.

An Indonesian court has sentenced harsh religious leader Rizieq Shihab to another four years in prison for spreading false information about the results of his COVID-19 test.

Thursday’s verdict came after Rizieq, the leader of the Forbidden Islamic Defender Front (FPI), was sentenced to eight months in prison in May for violating the limits of the coronavirus in several crowded events, including his daughter’s wedding. of the people.

The prosecutor sought a six-year sentence in the latter case.

Rizieqi was accused of spreading false information in a Youtube video saying that he was healthy despite being tested positive for COVID-19. At the time, the 55-year-old was being cared for at Ummi Hospital in Bogor, a city outside the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

The demonstration took place in front of the Eastern Court in Jakarta and was attended by hundreds of people [Willy Kurniawan/ Reuters]

The prosecution said the false statement that Rizieq was healthy, spread by various news networks and widespread on social media, put the community at risk, believing that thousands of people had taken part in various events.

Indonesia surpassed the 2 billion mark on Monday in coronavirus cases as authorities announced they would cut restrictions in order to spread it to the world’s fourth most populous country. The death toll from COVID-19 is now 55,594.

Judging on Thursday, Judge Khadwanto said Rizieq was “guilty” of announcing false information and deliberately causing confusion to the people. ”The judge ordered the removal of the time he has already served.

Shortly afterwards, the religious leader told the court that he would reject and dismiss the decision.

Rizieq has been in custody since Dec. 13.

The court also sentenced Rizieq’s son-in-law, Hanif Alatas, to two years in prison for supplementing the crime.

Prior to the sentencing, hundreds of Rizieq people gathered outside the Jakarta East Court. Police then fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the followers as they tried to approach the court.

Rizieq Shihab supporters react to Jakarta police firing tear gas and water cannons [Zaenuddin/AFP]

Hundreds were arrested for refusing to leave.

Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.

He returned to exile in Saudi Arabia last year; he escaped from it with allegations of pornography and insulting the ideology of the state, both of which were later abandoned.

Since his return, he has called for an “moral revolution” in Indonesia, fueling tensions with the government.

The government banned the FPI in December, saying it had no legal reason to act as a civilian organization and that its activities violated the law and caused public disorder.