Jakarta Police Chief Persuades Rizieq Syihab to Come Back Home

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Metro Police are currently hunting down the leader of Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) Rizieq Syihab.

Rizieq has publicly refused to travel back to Indonesia and had recently exposed himself in a video that showed his current whereabout which is at the Abraj al-Bait Tower (or known by the Indonesians as the Zam-Zam Tower), a stone's throw away from Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Rumors coming from his close members suggested that Rizieq did not plan to travel back to Indonesia in the near future. He said that he has been unjustly criminalized for the actions he was being accused of.

Read: Police Calls for No Rally During Rizieqs Repatriation

Jakarta Metro Police Insp. Gen. Mochammad Iriawan stated that he would not listen to Rizieq’s reasoning. Iriawan urged the FPI leader to travel back to Indonesia as soon as possible so that the legal process incriminating Rizieq could be over soon.

“Just come back home, why are you so scared, what’s bothering your mind? Why are you so stubborn? Face this if you’re not guilty, there’s a trial process after all,” he said.

Iriawan hoped that Rizieq would not mobilize his mass once he gets back to Indonesia. He firmly warned that the current issue entangling Rizieq was an individual matter and did not need to implicate the public.

“We have anticipative measures prepared, we are ready for it,” Iriawan said, commenting on the possibility of Rizieq mobilizing large masses upon his return.

Rizieq’s lawyer Kapitra confirmed that his client is still staying in Saudi Arabia and revealed that he met with Rizieq in one of the many hotels located in the vicinity of Masjid al-Haram, Mecca.

"At the Zam-zam Tower," Kapitra told Tempo Wednesday evening, June 7.

EGI ADYATAMA