West Java Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Yusri Yunus said the police would screen a case implicating Rizieq Shihab, the founder of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), for alleged defamation of the Pancasila (state ideology) on Friday.

"We will hold a case screening to see whether there is a criminal element. If we find there is, we will proceed with an investigation into the case," Yusri told The Jakarta Post via telephone on Friday.

A case screening is a phase of a criminal investigation in which investigators decide whether evidence collected is solid enough for police to name someone a suspect in a case.

Yusri added that on Thursday the police had quizzed Rizieq as a witness who had been reported by politician Sukmawati Soekarnoputri for allegedly insulting the Pancasila.

Sukmawati reported Rizieq to the police for a two-minute video of him talking about the difference between Sukarno’s version of Pancasila and the one written in the Jakarta Charter.

“In Sukarno’s Pancasila, faith in God is placed at the bottom, but in the Jakarta Charter’s Pancasila, faith in God is placed on the head. Which one is better? Sukarno’s or the Jakarta Charter's?” Rizieq said in the video.

Yusri added that the police's forensic laboratory center (Puslabfor) found that the footage of Rizieq commenting on the Pancasila was original, however, Rizieq claimed that his video had been edited.

The police had questioned 10 people, including criminal law, language and information technology experts before interrogating Rizieq, Yusri said.

Source:
courtesy of THE JAKARTA POST

by Callistasia Anggun Wijaya

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