The Straits Times, January 7, 2010
BANDUNG: Indonesian police arrested six people for allegedly performing a 'sexy dance' at a cafe in the early hours of New Year's Day, a police official said yesterday.
Police arrested four female dancers, the dance group's leader and the cafe owner, local police chief detective Arman Achdiat told news agency Agence France-Presse. 'We're charging them for preparing the dance and performing it in public, which is against morality,' he said.
He did not give any details about the dance but said the dancers, who had performed at a live music cafe in Bandung, south of Jakarta, were in skimpy clothing, which could 'stir desires'.
Under the country's anti-pornography law, the dancers could face up to 15 years in jail if convicted, he added. The controversial law, passed in October last year, criminalises all works and bodily movements deemed obscene and capable of violating public morality.
The law 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 roughly 90 per cent of Indonesia's 234 million population, and there are sizeable Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Confucian minorities.
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