TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab is reportedly facing issues regarding his overstay in Saudi Arabia.

The Indonesian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Agus Maftuh Abegebriel says that Rizieq is required to pay a substantial fine for overstaying in his current location since last year.

“It was since mid-2018,” said Agus to Tempo on Thursday, July 11.

Previously reported, FPI legal team leader Sugito Atmo Prawiro said Rizieq’s inability to come home is an order from Saudi Arabia’s government, which he claims is based on an institution in Indonesia.

“It’s based on the requests from powerful hands in Indonesia,” said Sugito to Tempo on Wednesday, July 10.

When asked to elaborate the institution he refers to, Sugito remarked that he does not bear the capacity to explain it in detail.

Rizieq is currently in Mecca, which has been his temporary home since mid-2017 after he was incriminated in a criminal case linked to a lewd chat that spread online between him and a woman. The investigation upon this case has been dropped since 2018.

Furthermore, Vice President Jusuf Kalla asserts that the Indonesian government cannot bar one of its citizens to return home, however, he maintains that the problem facing Rizieq Shihab’s return to Indonesia is not from the Indonesian government.

FRISKI RIANA | ANTARA