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10 men jailed for having gay sex

  • Dec 18 2017
  • Written by Josh Jackman
Indonesian police guard men arrested in a recent raid during a press conference at a police station in Jakarta on May 22, 2017. Indonesian police have detained 141 men who were allegedly holding a gay party at a sauna, an official said on May 22, the latest sign of a backlash against homosexuals in the Muslim-majority country

Indonesian authorities have arrested (FERNANDO/AFP/Getty)

10 men have been jailed in Indonesia for having gay sex.

A court in North Jakarta sentenced the men to two years in prison each for participating in a so-called gay sex party.

The convicted men were among the 141 arrested in the capital of Jakarta in May during a police raid on a sauna and gym.

Men arrested in a recent raid stand in line during a press conference at a police station in Jakarta on May 22, 2017. Indonesian police have detained 141 men who were allegedly holding a gay party at a sauna, an official said on May 22, the latest sign of a backlash against homosexuals in the Muslim-majority country. / AFP PHOTO / FERNANDO (Photo credit should read FERNANDO/AFP/Getty Images)

(Getty)

Court documents stated that the defendants were “proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt of displaying nudity and sexual exploitation collectively in public,” according to AFP.

As well as jail time, the defendants were also handed fines of £55,000.

At the time of the arrest, Jakarta police spokesman Raden Argo Yuwono said: “There were gay people who were caught strip-teasing and masturbating in the scene.”

Indonesian police guard men arrested in a recent raid during a press conference at a police station in Jakarta on May 22, 2017. Indonesian police have detained 141 men who were allegedly holding a gay party at a sauna, an official said on May 22, the latest sign of a backlash against homosexuals in the Muslim-majority country. / AFP PHOTO / FERNANDO (Photo credit should read FERNANDO/AFP/Getty Images)

(Getty)

The ten men were found guilty last week under the country’s 2008 anti-pornography law, and sentenced today.

Andreas Harsono, a Human Rights Watch researcher in Jakarta, said: “It is an abuse of these gay men’s rights.

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