Habib Bahar's Journey From Mount Sindur To Nusa Kambangan

Bahar Smith (Photo: DG PAS document)

JAKARTA - Habib Bahar bin Smith was sent back to Gunung Sindur Prison because he was deemed to have violated several rules of the assimilation program. Even after being detained, Habib Bahar was immediately transferred to the Nusa Kambangan Prison.

The head of the Public Relations and Protocol Section of the Directorate General of Corrections, Rika Aprianti, said that the transfer of Habib Bahar was based on the coordination of the Mount Sindur Special Headquarters, West Java Regional Head of Regional Office, and the Director General of Corrections.

The coordination discusses a number of things that are considered to be disturbing and endangering the security of Gunung Sindur prison. Moreover, the prison is a prisoner for terrorism convicts and narcotics dealers.

"Habib Bahar has been transferred from the Gunung Sindur Special Prison to the Batu Nusakambangan Class I Lapas on Tuesday night, 19 May 2020, under police escort," Rika said in her statement, Wednesday, May 20.

There were at least three considerations that decided that Habib Bahar was moved to the Klas 1 Batu Nusa Kambangan prison. First, about security. Since the mass of supporters were in front of the Mount Sindur Special Prison, based on their observation they often took provocative actions by destroying the fence.

The second consideration relates to Gunung Sindur Prison, which is inhabited by prisoners for terrorist cases and drug dealers. So, it was feared that the actions of the supporters of Habin Bahar could provoke them so that something unwanted happened.

"The disturbance of security and order was caused by the mass sympathizers," said Rika.

The final consideration is the question of the large and unified mass of supporters. Thus, it is considered to violate the Health Protocol for Handling COVID-19 and has the potential for the spread of the virus.

"Prevent violations of the COVID-19 protocol that arise from a crowd of sympathizers," said Rika.

The revocation of Habib Bahar's assimilation was based on the assessment of the Bogor Bapas Social Officer who considered him to have violated several regulations.

One of them, Habib Bahar also gave lectures that contained provocative content or spread hostility and hatred towards the government. In fact, the lecture went viral on social media and had an impact on public unrest.

Finally, by being involved in lecturing activities, Habib Bahar was also said to have violated the Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) regulations because he gathered a lot of people. So, there is the potential for transmission of COVID-19.

"Violating PSBB rules in a COVID-19 emergency situation in Indonesia, by having gathered the masses in the implementation of his lecture," said Reynhard Silitonga, Director General of Corrections at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.