The editor of Playboy Indonesia was cleared Thursday of charges that he published indecent material, but opponents said they would continue their campaign against the magazine in court.
The publication, which does not contain nude pictures, “could not be categorized as pornography,” ruled presiding District Court Judge Efran Basyuning. Its editor, Erwin Arnada, also is protected by press freedom laws enacted after the 1998 resignation of dictator Suharto, the court decided.
“This is a great gift for Playboy Indonesia because up until today, for one year, my friends and I worked under pressure,” Arnada said at a news conference. “Today’s verdict proved press freedom is respected in this country.”
The trial was part of a broader struggle between a vocal minority of Islamic hard-liners and the more tolerant majority in Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population.
Soleh, chairman of Indonesia’s radical Islamic Defenders Front, said Muslims were left “questioning the judge’s conscience” and smelled a conspiracy, which he called “a game,” behind the verdict.
“We are very disappointed, the whole society is disappointed, and all Muslims are disappointed with the verdict,” said Soleh, who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.
“At the moment, we have no further plan,” he added.
“For the time being, let people see what kind of court Indonesia has. The weak will always be the victim, but the strong, they can negotiate.”
However, Munarman, a lawyer for Muslim groups opposed to Playboy Indonesia, told reporters that legal action against the magazine would continue and that other publications deemed indecent also would be targeted.
“The road which we will take is refiling the complaint not only against Playboy but also against other adult magazines,” he said.
About 200 of Soleh’s supporters quietly walked out of the courtroom after the judge read the verdict. Outside, they yelled, “God is great!” and denounced the verdict as hundreds of police officers stood by with a water cannon. The anti-Playboy activists left without any trouble.
Playboy published its first issue here last April. Indonesia’s version contains photos of scantily clad women, including models in lingerie, but many of the pictures are no more revealing than pinups in the country’s popular tabloid newspapers.
Hard-core pornographic videos and magazines also are widely available here. So the Islamists’ focus on the much tamer Playboy suggested to many Indonesians that it was singled out for attack as a symbol of what hard-liners consider Western pollution of traditional Islamic morals.
Soleh’s group joined violent protests against Playboy a year ago, and his supporters stoned the magazine’s office in Jakarta, the capital. Arnada moved his staffers to Indonesia’s mainly Hindu island of Bali, where they continued to put out the magazine during his trial.
Islamists are also pressing in parliament for tighter anti-pornography laws, and a draft bill introduced in 1999 would make kissing in public and erotic dancing criminal offenses carrying prison sentences.
Thousands of people demonstrated in support of the measure last May, but opponents have sought to water it down in committee negotiations.
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