By: Reza Kurniawan) *
Rizieq Shihab’s pretrial lawsuit was rejected flatly by the single judge at the South Jakarta District Court. The judge was of the opinion that the police investigation was valid. The public fully supports the judge’s steps who firmly reject Rizieq’s pretrial lawsuit, because the former FPI leader is indeed guilty.
When Rizieq Shihab was sentenced to 6 years in prison because of the crowd case, the FPI strongly protested. They threatened to file a pretrial against the District Court. The trial was held on January 4, 2021 by bringing in witnesses who had come to the reception party held by Rizieq Shihab.
However, the sole judge of the South Jakarta District Court, Akhmad Sahyuti, firmly rejected Rizieq Shihab’s pretrial lawsuit. The judge’s decision was read out in a hearing on January 12, 2021. Sahyuti revealed that he tried, rejecting the applicant’s pretrial request in its entirety.
Sahyuti added that the rejection of the pretrial lawsuit was carried out after he considered and assessed that the series of investigations by the police regarding the crowd at Rizieq’s house were valid. The increase in the status of a case from investigation to investigation by investigators is in accordance with the rules. In that sense, when there is a crowd in Petamburan, the police investigation is according to the rules.
With the rejection of Rizieq Shihab’s pretrial request, he remains a suspect and has to spend 6 years in prison. The former FPI leader must be held accountable for his actions, because he was proven to have invited 10,000 people to his daughter’s wedding in his private house. Even though making a crowd during a pandemic is very dangerous.
Rizieq Shihab was exposed to several articles in this crowd case. Starting from the Law on Quarantine, up to 2 other articles. Namely, article 160 of the Criminal Code concerning incitement to commit violence against the general authorities and commit criminal acts. Because Rzieq has been proven many times to invite his followers to fight against the government.
Rizieq was also involved in Article 216 of the Criminal Code because he did not obey an order by an official whose job was to supervise something, aka being absent twice from the summons of Polda Metro Jaya. Yet when he was summoned, he was only a witness. But when he did not come, and his status rose to become a suspect.
Even though Rizieq has surrendered himself, this does not mean that he is free from lawsuits. Because he still has to take responsibility for his mistakes. He also cannot blame the authorities, because they are only carrying out their duties. Meanwhile, Rizieq, as an Indonesian citizen, never wanted to obey the rules.
The public welcomed the failure of this pretrial lawsuit, because they were furious at Rizieq’s arbitrary behavior. When having a party in Petamburan, indeed everyone wears a mask, but there is no physical distancing. He also stepped on the gas to give lectures in several other places, and invited the masses, as if he forgot that it was still a pandemic.
After the event ended, it was only discovered that 80 worshipers and guests of Rizieq were positive for corona. This is their own fault for desperately violating health protocols. Moreover, Rizieq was discharged from abroad and did not self-quarantine and refused the swab test. He violated the regulations and could potentially transmit the corona because he was suspected of having OTG status.
The refusal of this lawsuit shows the justice provided by the government. Because people who are guilty are definitely punished, no matter if they are famous figures or ordinary civilians. The hakkim at the district court also acted decisively by rejecting Rizieq’s lawsuit. He pointed out that there is no selective logging law in Indonesia.
The public was relieved that Rizieq’s pretrial lawsuit was rejected by the district court. Even though FPI threatened to sue in the next court, the judge would also definitely reject it. Because Rizieq’s mistake was very fatal, by causing the spread of corona, and he was exposed to multiple articles.
) * The author is a contributor to the Cikini Press Circle and Students
