Reunion 212, Sukmawati Demo Until Return Of Rizieq Shihab

Prabowo Subianto attended the 212 Reunion in 2018 (Photo: Special)

JAKARTA - Monday, December 2, the National Monument (Monas) area will be crowded. Not recreation people, but the masses who want to take part in the 212 Reunion. The reunion is routine every year, and this is the third time.

Various issues developed in line with the implementation of this activity. There are two major themes that have arisen, namely the pressure for the government to process the case of alleged religious blasphemy that ensnared Sukmawati Sukarnoputri, and the return of the high priest of the Islamic Defenders Front, Rizieq Shihab, to return to Indonesia.

VOI tries to find out this information. The spokesperson for the Alumni Brotherhood (PA) 212 Ustaz Haikal Hassan, was chosen to be questioned about the issue.

Regarding the 212 Reunion that will be used as a demonstration to enforce the case of the alleged blasphemy of Sukmawati Soekarnoputri, Haikal denied this. He said, PA 212 chose dialogue with various parties for law enforcement like this rather than carrying out demonstrations.

"In the sense that there are parties from the government, there are parties from us who are making charges, there are legal experts, there are from the police, there are from digital forensics. Then, Mrs. Sukma countered the accusations that it was edited and fabricated. Everything was presented in an open dialogue," said Haikal, Sunday, December 1.

This is different from what happened in the first 212 action (2016) which urged the legal process of former DKI Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) for the case of religious blasphemy. The demonstration against Ahok emerged because there was no room for dialogue to discuss the matter transparently.

"If it turns out, some people have accused it of just a demonstration, because the dialogue was closed, because the door to dialogue was closed," said Haikal.

He emphasized that the dialogue they wanted was not aimed at determining the right sentence, but whether there was a criminal act of blasphemy in the case.

"If it is proven legally and convincingly it does not violate the law, yes, there is no need to be punished. If it is proven legally and convincingly against the law then it deserves to be punished," said Haikal.

Furthermore, regarding the second issue that arose at this year's 212 Reunion and was linked to Rizieq Shihab's return, Haikal did not say much. He said FPI Spokesperson Munarman and Habib Rizieq Shihab's Spokesperson, Abdul Chair Ramadhan, knew better about this. However, Haikal gave a clue that Rizieq might be present at the 212 Reunion.

"If there were no obstacles, he would have met face to face with his sympathizers and lovers," he said.

Based on the schedule of the 212 Reunion event circulating among journalists, Rizieq Shihab said he would give a speech at 6.00-7.15 WIB. When asked about this to Haikal, he did not answer firmly. He said, if there were no obstacles, Rizieq Shihab would come. But if not, Rizieq's speech will only use video or voice recordings.

VOI also contacted Munarman and Abdul Chair Ramadhan to confirm this information. However, several times were contacted, both of them did not respond.

Furthermore, VOI contacted the Head of the FPI Legal Aid Team, Sugito Atmo Prawiro to confirm this. Sugito said Rizieq's return to Indonesia was still constrained. Sugito did not elaborate on the obstacles because he had not received complete information.

"It is still constrained by the Indonesian government," he said.

Back regarding the 212 Reunion activities, the Police said that the participants of the activity reportedly reached 10,000 people. Although the number of people was quite large, the police emphasized that they would not provide special security. Carelessly, the event is a religious activity that maintains the meaning of peace.

"I have said that this is a religious activity, and we have coordinated with the committee, they do not carry out anything other than religious activities," said Kapolda Metro Jaya Inspector General Pol Gatot Eddy Pramono.