Current Affairs

Four men have been arrested for ‘spreading gay pictures’ in Indonesia

Nov 09 2017
Written by Josh Jackman

(Getty)

Four gay men face up to 16 years in prison after being arrested for pictures they posted online.

The Indonesian men are suspected by the police of spreading gay pornography online, but seem to have been targeted simply because they enjoy BDSM.

A reader who contacted PinkNews said: “Today, my friend was put in jail in Indonesia for taking pictures when playing BDSM with his submissive.

(Facebook/Emirjkt Mastr)

“The picture doesn’t even have genitals in it. They think it’s porn because they simply don’t understand BDSM, and they hate gays.”

Police Brigadier General Fadil Imran said that he had arrested “perpetrators of dissemination of videos and photos of sexually immoral content with the classification of BDSM”.

He listed items which had been confiscated from the first pair arrested, two men aged 42 and 30, one of whom runs the Facebook page which police say has been spreading porn.

Police Brigadier General Fadil Imran (YouTube/mixproproduction29)

The official listed “straps, rubber whips, handcuffs, candles, iron chains, body vests, mouth masks, masks, body leather belts, chopsticks, and whip tools.

He said that from the other pair, authorities confiscated “clamp clothes, clothesline, dog chains, candles, baby oil and massage tools.”

Gay sex is legal in Indonesia, but authorities have repeatedly targeted LGBT people.

Earlier this year, lawmakers in the country approved a proposed bill which would outlaw ‘LGBT behaviours’ on television.

Police Brigadier General Fadil Imran (YouTube/mixproproduction29)

In Aceh, a region of the otherwise secular country which imposes Shariah law, two men were caned 83 times as a legal punishment for having gay sex.

The men were informed on by their neighbour, who took video footage.

The video shows vigilantes kicking, slapping and insulting the men.

BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA - MAY 23: Indonesian gay couple walk as arrive for caning in public from an executor known as 'algojo' for having gay sex, which is against Sharia law at Syuhada mosque on May 23, 2017 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The two young gay men, aged 20 and 23, were caned 85 times each in the Indonesian province of Aceh during a public ceremony after being caught having sex last week. It was the first time gay men have been caned under Sharia law as gay sex is not illegal in most of Indonesia except for Aceh, which is the only province which exercises Islamic law. The punishment came a day after the police arrested 141 men at a sauna in the capital Jakarta on Monday due to suspicion of having a gay sex party, the latest crackdown on homosexuality in the country. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Two Indonesian men walking to be caned for having gay sex (Getty)

The canings came a day after 141 men were arrested in the capital, Jakarta, for having a “gay sex party”.

And last month, police arrested 58 people in a raid on a gay sauna.

They acted after members of the public reportedly complained that the building was being used for sex work.