Two-year jail sought for Playboy Indonesia editor

Prosecutors yesterday demanded a Jakarta court punish the editor of Playboy Indonesia with a two-year jail term for distributing indecent pictures to the public and making money from them.

The magazine's first edition sparked protests in Indonesia last April although it had no nudity and less flesh visible in the issue than many other magazines on sale in the world's most populous Muslim country.

Editor-in-chief Erwin Arnada has argued Playboy Indonesia was good for developing a pluralistic society in the country, but the prosecution and Islamic hardliners who have regularly attended his trial since late last year said he had "harmed the nation's morals".

"The pictures selected by the defendant were improper for publication because they violated decency and aroused lust," prosecutor Resni Muchtar told the South Jakarta court.

More than 100 Muslim protesters in the courtroom criticised the prosecution for being soft, shouting "Hang him, Hang him".

Radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who spent time in jail for the deadly 2002 Bali bombings before being acquitted by the Supreme Court, also attended the trial.

"The prosecution's demand does not match the damage that Playboy has inflicted. We want the judges to give the defendant a heavier sentence," he told reporters.

Under Indonesian laws, sentencing demands from the prosecution serve as strong advice to judges who can hand down harsher sentences or dismiss the case altogether.

Subsequent editions of the magazine are still on sale in Indonesian cities despite attacks on its Jakarta office after the April launch. There has been no government move to ban it.

The controversy itself has faded after Playboy Indonesia moved operations to Bali, a Hindu enclave where conservative Islam has little clout.

Indonesia has 220 million people, about 85 per cent of whom follow Islam. Most Muslims in the country are moderate.