Playboy Indonesia Editor's Satisfied Islamic Hard-Liners

Submitbookmarker - Judges were wrong to use the criminal code instead of Indonesia’s press law when Playboy Indonesia’s former editor was sentenced to two years in prison for publishing pictures of scantily clothed women, the editor’s lawyer said. Erwin Arnada began his sentence Saturday in a case that has satisfied Islamic hard-liners but has angered free speech activists in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

Arnada, who has denied wrongdoing, did not speak to reporters as he was escorted from a green van under tight security to the Cipinang jail late Saturday. The 47-year-old quickly flashed a victory sign before disappearing inside. In August, the Supreme Court found Arnada guilty of violating indecency provisions in the criminal code, quietly overruling a 2007 acquittal by the South Jakarta District Court.

But his lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, argued Saturday that judges should have used the country’s press law, which would have protected his client. He said he would file a judicial review, the final step in the legal process.

“This sets a bad precedent for freedom of expression,” he said. Indonesia’s Press Council had earlier stated that the magazine did not contain pornography, was in line with the press code of ethics, and therefore had not violated the 1999 press law.

“We have found nothing pornographic in the magazine,” said Uni Lubis, a Press Council representative on Saturday. When the now-defunct Playboy Indonesia hit newsstands in 2006, members of the Islamic Defenders Front smashed the windows and doors of its editorial offices in south Jakarta, threatened the staff, and started legal proceedings against Arnada.

The magazine, toned down for the local market, had photos of women in undergarments, occasionally with partially exposed breasts. But the pictures were less risque than some appearing in other magazines sold openly on street corners.

Though most Indonesians are moderate Muslims with a long history of tolerance, a vocal militant fringe seeking the implementation of Islamic-based laws has grown louder in recent years. Kompas.com