Court Jails Six Indonesians for Erotic Dance

TRIBUNNEWS.COM, BANDUNG -- An Indonesian court jailed six people under the country’s anti-pornography law for performing an erotic dance at a bar in the early hours of New Year’s Day, a prosecutor said Friday. The four female dancers, the show promoter and bar manager received a two and half months each for a performance in Bandung, West Java, which violated a controversial anti-pornography law that came into effect in October 2008.

“They have been proven guilty of showing an erotic dance in front of the public,” prosecutor Dodi Junaidi told AFP, adding that the judge in his ruling on Wednesday also fined them one million rupiah (109 dollars) each. The law criminalises all works and “bodily movements” deemed obscene and capable of violating public morality.

It has prompted protests across Indonesia, with critics saying it could threaten traditional cultures from temple statues on Hindu Bali island to penis sheaths on tribesmen in Christian and animist Papua province. The law has been championed by Indonesia’s Islamic parties and is being backed by the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Muslims make up around 90 percent of Indonesia’s population of 234 million, which includes large Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Confucian minorities.

Afp/kompas.com