Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
Leader of the Council of the Defenders of the Prophet, Bahar bin Ali bin Smith re-designated as a suspect on suspicion persecution in his current status as a prisoner at the Penitentiary (Lapas), Mount Sindur, Bogor Regency.
The West Java Regional Police’s Directorate of General Criminal Investigation (Ditreskrimum) named Bahar a suspect as of October 21 for alleged abuse of an online taxi driver in 2018.
“Yes, the result of the title has been named as a suspect,” said the Director of General Criminal Investigation of the West Java Police, Kombes CH Patoppoi, confirming the determination of the suspect Bahar.
With the determination of the suspect this time, Bahar was thus named a suspect for the third time. Previously, the founder of Pondok Pesantren Tajul Alawiyyin, Kemang, Bogor was named a suspect in the case of hate speech against President Joko Widodo, as well as the persecution of two teenagers in December 2018.
The case of hate speech was carried out by Bahar on November 17, 2018, while giving a lecture at Batu Ceper, Tangerang. At that time, in his lecture, he called Jokowi a transvestite and asked the number one person in Indonesia to take off his pants.
This hate speech is not the first time Bahar has spoken in his lecture. In 2017, the blonde-haired Habib was known to have insulted Jokowi in his speech at the closing ceremony of Maulid Arba’in at the Ba’alawi Building, Palembang, South Sumatra.
Two lectures at Batu Ceper, Tangerang and Ba’alawi Building, Palembang then received the spotlight after being uploaded on YouTube on November 27, 2018.
A group of residents on behalf of Jokowi Mania latas reported Bahar bin Smith to Polda Metro Jaya over a case of insulting the state symbol.
On December 3, after two reports submitted by Jokowi Mania to Polda Metro Jaya and Bareskrim Polri, Bahar was blocked from traveling abroad. The ban was followed by a search of Bahar’s house in South Sumatra.
He was later named a suspect under the article on the Elimination of Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE). Although threatened with a maximum of 5 years imprisonment, Bahar bin Smith is not in police custody.
2 Teenage Abuse Suspects
At about the same time, the police received another report on Bahar’s alleged abuse of two teenagers.
He was reported to the Bogor Police on December 5, 2018 for a joint case in public of committing violence against people and or molestation and or committing violence against children.
The two victims were residents of Bogor Regency respectively with the initials MHU (17) and Ju (18). The persecution was carried out by Bahar at an Islamic boarding school in Kemang Village, Bogor on Saturday, December 1 at around 11.00 WIB.
On December 18 2018, Bahar was then summoned by the police and named a suspect and immediately detained at the West Java Police Headquarters Detention Center the next day.
During the trial, on July 9, 2019, the judge of PN Bandung sentenced Bahar bin Smith to three years imprisonment with a fine of Rp50 million subsider one month imprisonment.
Bahar was free on 16 May, through an assimilation program from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham). Freedom of Bahar from Pondok Rajeg Prison, Cibinong, Bogor Regency was greeted by a number of his followers.
Three days of release, on May 19, Bahar was again carried to prison for allegedly violating the assimilation program that was given. The Directorate General of Corrections at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham) said Bahar bin Smith had given a disturbing lecture.
“The reason he was arrested was because he committed a special violation in carrying out his assimilation. The special violation was, among other things, the activity concerned which disturbed the public with provocative videos, provocative lectures that disturbed the public,” said the Head of Public Relations and Protocol of the Directorate General of PAS, Rika Aprianti to CNNIndonesia.com by telephone, Tuesday (19/5).
The Director General of Corrections then decided to temporarily move Bahar to the Batu Nusakambangan Class I Penitentiary (Lapas), last May.
The transfer of Bahar to Nusakambangan, Rika called because the Bahar masses often flocked and disturbed security while Bahar was in the Gunung Sindur prison. He was transferred again to Gunung Sindur Prison in July 2020.
Now, in his status as a prisoner, Bahar bin Smith is again named a suspect for the alleged abuse he committed against an online taxi driver in 2018.
Bahar bin Smith’s lawyer, Ichwan Tuankotta, said that this case was reported by a person named Andriansyah. “So there was a case first, it’s been a long time, 2018,” said Ichwan.
“At that time because the Habib Bahar was not yet known, Andriansyah immediately reported the police,” he said.
According to Ichwan, the incident occurred before Bahar was reported on cases of hate speech against Jokowi and the alleged abuse of two teenagers. However, he claimed that Bahar and Andriansyah had agreed to make peace. In fact, he admitted that the reporter had withdrawn the report. Ichwan said that his party has authentic evidence regarding this case.
“We have made peace with tuh people and already have proof of peace and revocation of prison, have proof of compensation for treatment, have a video of the victim stating that we are at peace. There are four pieces of evidence, none of which are genuine,” he said.
(thr/wis)
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