The North Jakarta Police last night arrested 141 men supposedly attending a “gay party”, the latest in a series of raids on LGBT gatherings performed by the Indonesian police recently.
The police carried out the raid at a men’s-only spa in Kelapa Gading called Atlantis Gym and Sauna, which has a reputation for being a gay-friendly entertainment spot.
“The first floor has a gym, the second floor had a strip tease event with four strippers while people masturbated, and the third floor has a spa where homosexuals can bathe and carry out homosexual acts,” said AKBP Nasriadi, head of North Jakarta Police’s Crime Investigation Unit, as quoted by Merdeka.
Police said the spa was having a theme party that night, called ‘The Wild One’. Officials said they confiscated evidence including event posters, proof of online invitations, condoms, and CCTV recordings.
Homosexual acts are not illegal in Indonesia (except in Aceh). However, the police say those arrested may be charged under Indonesia’s harsh anti-pornography law, though it’s not clear if all the participants or just the event organizers could be punished.
Under the ambiguously worded Law no. 44/2008 on Pornography, putting on a live strip show for the enjoyment of the public could be construed as “pornography”, although it does not make any distinction between such acts being carried out in public or private settings. Law enforcement could also deem promotional materials for the event immoral and deviant, which would also be a potential violation of the pornography law.
The maximum punishment for violating Indonesia’s anti-pornography law is 12 years imprisonment.
Atlantis Gym and Sauna has been around since 2013, and has reportedly regularly held similar events in the past without incident. Which begs the question, why did the police only just yesterday decided to raid the facility?
Earlier this month, police in the city of Surabaya nabbed 14 people for allegedly holding a ‘gay party’ in a hotel. Eight were detained and made to take HIV tests, which showed that five of them tested positive. That information was released to the public through the media, despite mandatory HIV tests being deemed a threat to privacy by the World Health Organization.
Last week, two Indonesian men in Aceh, the only province in Indonesia to enforce Islamic Sharia laws, were sentenced to 85 strokes of the cane after being found in bed together during a raid by vigilantes. The two men would be the first to be flogged in the region for allegedly having same-sex relations. Activists have called on President Joko Widodo to make good on statements in support of basic rights for LGBT Indonesians by preventing the caning from taking place.
