Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta Metropolitan Police investigators have issued an ultimatum to five suspects in the case of alleged breach of the government's health protocols in several crowds-pulling events in Petamburan last month to meet the police's summon.

"As conveyed by the head (of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police's public relations division), they are given two options. Either they surrender or get arrested," National Police Spokesman Inspector General Argo Yuwono told journalists here early Sunday.

This week, the Jakarta police had named six people suspects of the violation of health protocos during the events at Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Habib Rizieq Shihab's home and te FPI headquarters in Petamburan, Jakarta, last month.

They are the FPI leader; head of the events' organizing committee Haris Ubaidillah; secretary of the events' organizing committee Ali bin Alwi Alatas; FPI commander in charge of security affairs Maman Suryadi; FPI's general chairman responsible for the events Sobri Lubis; and Idrus, who was in charge of the events' rundown.

The Jakarta Metropolitan Police also appealed to the government's authorized agencies to impose 20-day travel bans on Shihab and five others to prevent them from traveling abroad.

Shihab who was charged for violating Articles 160 and 216 of Criminal Law had shown up on Saturday while five others that the police investigators charged for violating Article 93 of the 2018 Health Quarantine Law did not come.

Regarding the Shihab case, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) pressed for applying fair law enforcement in the case of this well-respected FPI leader to avoid any offense to the public sense of justice in communities.

"Law must truly be used as an instrument for educating and not as an instrument for targeting," MUI Deputy Chairman Anwar Abbas had earlier stated.

The police's decision to name Shihab as a suspect for violating health protocols in holding events that led to the congregation of people must reflect the use of law as an instrument to edify rather than target, Abbas stated.

Abbas emphasized that law enforcement against Shihab and his men over the cases of holding crowd-drawing events must also be imposed fairly and equally on other community members found breaching the government's COVID-19 protocols in the country.

Failing to implement the principle of fair law enforcement and public sense of justice would only create unrest among members of the public, he cautioned.

"To this end, we hope, without exception, that all people or parties that have breached the COVID-19 rules, as the police have accused Habib Rizieq Shihab of having done, would also be named suspects," he affirmed.
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Translator: Fianda SR, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
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