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JAKARTA: Six suspected supporters of Indonesian Islamic cleric Rizieq Shihab were killed in a clash with police on Monday (December 7), Jakarta Police Chief Fadil Imran told reporters.
The incident occurred shortly after midnight on a highway when a police car was attacked while following a car believed to be carrying supporters of the cleric, resulting in a shooting, Fadil said.
Police have been investigating the controversial cleric for violations of health protocols during the pandemic after large gatherings to celebrate his return to the world’s largest Muslim-majority country from his self-exile in Saudi Arabia.
READ: Governor of Jakarta contracts COVID-19 as infections rise in Indonesia
Shihab, leader of the Islamic Defenders Front, left Indonesia in 2017 for an umrah, or minor pilgrimage, to Mecca shortly after the National Police charged him in connection with a pornography chat case and allegedly insulting ideology of the state of Pancasila.
Police dropped both charges last year due to weak evidence, but the Saudi Arabian authorities had banned him from leaving the country without explanation.
Shihab returned to Indonesia in November, with thousands of supporters gathered to welcome him at the airport.
The Islamic Defenders Front was once on the fringes of politics and has a long history of vandalizing nightspots, throwing stones at Western embassies and attacking rival religious groups. He wants Sharia law to apply to Indonesia’s 230 million Muslims.
The group has gained significant influence through humanitarian and charitable work. He was a key organizer of massive street protests in 2016 and 2017 against the governor of Jakarta, who was subsequently jailed for blasphemy.
