TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Maruf Amin has urged the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Syihab to undergo legal process. "The legal process should be faced. I’m hopeful that it can be resolved well," Ma'ruf said yesterday, July 31, in Jakarta.
Ma'ruf said he was not aware of the case currently faced by Rizieq Syihab. Therefore, he opted not to comment on alleged criminalization against ulema. "The main point is to resolve it and not to cause more trouble," said the MUI chairman after receiving the newly appointed Jakarta Metro Police Insp. Gen. Idham Azis.
Pressed on Rizieq’s decision to stay in Saudi Arabia, Ma'ruf declined to comment. He said that he did not have any message to persuade the FPI leader to return to Indonesia.
Rizieq departed for Saudi Arabia one month before being named a suspect in a pornography case on April 26. He fulfilled his promise by performing Umrah (mini Hajj) following Basuki Tjahaja Purnama’s (Ahok) defeat in Jakarta election. Rizieq has not returned ever since.
Rizieq Syihab and his family had visited Kuala Lumpur to finish his Ph.D. program at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia on May 5. He and his family went back to Saudi Arabia from Malaysia ten days later.
FRISKI RIANA
