The video shows an Indonesian election official in hospital due to work exhaustion during the 2019 elections
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on March 25, 2021 at 22:25
- Updated on March 26, 2021 at 10:16
- 4 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
The 10-minute, 40-second video was posted on March 21, 2021, on YouTube here, where it has been watched more than 300,000 times.
Its Indonesian-language headline translates to English as, “LATEST NEWS!!! – PAID CASH | THE OFFICER ABUSING AND DRAGGING HRS IMMEDIATELY FALLS SICK.”
HRS refers to Muslim cleric Rizieq Shihab, who is currently on trial for violating pandemic health protocols.
Habib is an honorific given to a person who is believed to be the descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
The video shows a scene of Rizieq being brought to a courtroom (image 1); when the scene freezes, a small picture of a man in a blue top pops out, with a red arrow pointing to the man who brings Rizieq to the room (image 2). The next scene shows a clip of the man in the blue top talking as he is resting on a hospital bed (image 3).
At the 0:30 mark, a voiceover speaks in Indonesian: “The officer who draggedHabib Rizieq to the courtroom and twists his arm, which became bruised, immediately fell sick after he left the courtroom.”
At the 2:42 mark, the video shows a photo of Rizieq raising his right arm, with a bruised wrist circled in red (image 4).
Below are screenshots of the scenes in the video:
The same video was posted alongside a similar claim here and here on YouTube.
A screenshot of the video was posted here and here on Facebook.
The claim, however, is false.
Election official in hospital
A Google reverse image search, using keyframes obtained from InVID-WeVerify, found this iNews report on April 26, 2019, headlined: “General Elections Commission Records 225 Polling Station Officials Die and 1,470 Others Treated in Hospital Due to Work Exhaustion During Elections.”
The man lying down on a hospital bed can be seen at the 1:47 mark of the iNews video.
According to the video report, the man was Soegeng Afriadi, an election official in the Indonesian city of Medan, who was treated in hospital because of exhaustion from working during the 2019 elections.
Nearly 900 election officials had died and more than 5,000 others had fallen sick after Indonesia held its legislative elections and presidential election on April 17, 2019, the General Elections Committee said, as reported by local news sites Kompas.com and Kumparan in January 2020.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the scene seen in the misleading video (L) and in the original iNews video (R):
Muslim cleric questioned by police
The photo showing Rizieq’s "bruised arm" has been doctored from a photo published in this December 12, 2020, report from Okezone.com, headlined: “Habib Rizieq Gives a Thumbs Up, Looks Spirited as He Is Questioned by Jakarta Police.”
The original photo, captioned “Habib Rizieq Shihab arrives at Jakarta police headquarters,” does not show his wrist has any bruises.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the scene seen in the misleading video (L) and in the original Okezone.com photo (R):
Muslim cleric in courtroom
The scene showing Rizieq being brought to a courtroom is taken from a video of the cleric’s trial session on March 19, 2021, broadcast by Kompas TV here – three months after the event captured in the Okezone photo.
The scene in the misleading video can be seen from the 0:05:36 mark of the Kompas TV video. The Kompas TV footage does not show Rizieq being dragged by an officer as claimed by the misleading video.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the scene seen in the misleading video (L) and in the original Kompas TV video (R):
The misleading video also shows scenes of stacks of banknotes, which are taken from this video, posted on YouTube on November 14, 2019, and is titled: “Is this the MONEY you’ve been questioning about?”
The video is not related to Rizieq Shihab nor the election official.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
