Rizieq Shihab: Islamic Defenders Front leader calls for ‘blasphemers against Islam’ to be executed

A firebrand cleric wants people in Indonesia executed for blasphemy, in a move observers say could inflame violence and scare off tourists.

A radical Indonesian cleric has called for ‘blasphemers against Islam’ to be executed, chilling the blood of moderate Muslims, ethnic minorities and expats living in Bali.

During a 40 minute rant on the You Tube channel of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), Rizieq Shihab said that the horrific beheading of teacher Samuel Paty in France last month by a Muslim for showing his student cartoons of the prophet Mohammad was an example of what happens when government’s refuse to get tough on blasphemers.

“If the police fail to follow up on accusations of blasphemy, then don’t blame the Muslims when a head is found on the streets,” he raged in the video.

Shihab returned to a hero’s welcome in Jakarta earlier this month with thousands of people swathed in white thronging the airport and surrounding streets to cheer him after three years of self-imposed exile in Saudi Arabia.

Radical Indonesian cleric Rizieq Shihab (C) has called for ‘blasphemers against Islam’ to be executed. Picture: AFP

President Joko Widodo ordered the dismissal of Jakarta’s chief of police General Nana Sudjana and the West Java police chief inspector General Rudy Sufahradi Novianti for the massive breach in coronavirus protocols during the mass gathering.

Upon his arrival, the cleric told supporters he had returned to ‘fight with the people’ before meeting supporter Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan.

Indonesian intellectual and Balinese Hindu community leader Mr Gusti Ngurah Harta fears that the cleric’s hate speech and brutal threats will scare tourists away from Indonesia. “Tourists come to Indonesia not only for the natural beauty but for the diversity among the people and cultures. His shocking call for execution insults people and teaches his followers to pursue violence,” Mr Harta said.

A self-proclaimed ‘defender of morals’, Rizieq fled Indonesia in 2017 over allegations that he spread pornography, including naked images, to a female supporter through social media.

He remained in Saudi Arabia after the charges were dropped, further enhancing his appeal among Indonesia’s hard line Muslims who view the desert kingdom as a religious motherland as well as a generous benefactor.

Ethnic and religious minorities throughout Indonesia fear Shihab’s return as a powerful figure who publicly whips up hostility toward Christians, Shia Islam and other minority communities.

According to Mr Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch, brutal attacks and terror will rise on the coat tails Rizieq’s return.

“Violence is expected to increase because the FDI are spreading venom and resentment. In Indonesia it is highly problematic to makes calls for execution and there are strict laws surrounding such language, however, the Indonesian police do not enforce the law. His followers have murdered people in the past and burned down houses and places of worship,” Mr Harsono said.

There are fears that the cleric’s hate speech and brutal threats will scare tourists away from Indonesia. Picture: AFP

Shihab and his Islamic Defenders Front were the driving force behind the blasphemy campaign that landed Jakarta’s ethnic Chinese Christian governor Basuki Tjahaha ‘Ahok’ Purnama in jail in 2017.

At its peak the anti-Ahok campaign had more than a million people attending rallies, which distressed President Widodo.

In 2011 an attack on an Islamic Ahmadi minority Mosque in Baten province saw 1500 members of the Islamic Defenders Front murder three men who were forced to strip naked and where viciously beaten with wood, hoes and machetes.

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Originally published as Rizieq Shihab: Islamic Defenders Front leader calls for ‘blasphemers against Islam’ to be executed