INDONESIA ISLAM – Indonesia grants parole to controversial Muslim cleric

Indonesia on Wednesday granted parole to the controversial Muslim firebrand cleric Rizieq Shihab, sentenced to prison last year for breaching Covid-19 health protocols.

Rizieq, co-founder of the banned hardline Islamic Defender’s Front (FPI), obtained permission to leave the prison where he had been detained since December 2020, Rika Apriyanti, a spokesperson for the corrections department, said.

The spokesperson said in a statement that the cleric fulfilled the necessary “administrative and substantive requirements to obtain remission and integration rights” under the country’s laws.

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