Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Leave the judgment on esthetic values of an artwork to the critics, some will say, and let the police gauge the morality of the works. And that is exactly what is happening in a high-profile case from last year.
Police have named a trio of artists, a photographer and influential art curator among the suspects in a case they are building on obscenity and blasphemy from a photo exhibition at the CP Biennale 2005's Urban/Culture, held in October 2005.
City police chief of the general crime unit Sr. Comr. Moh. Jaelani confirmed the naming of the suspects, and said there was a total of six suspects who were scheduled to be summoned Friday.
"We already summoned them as (potential) suspects months ago and from the questioning, we have enough corroborating evidence to name them suspects," Jaelani told The Jakarta Post.
Suspect is often used as a preliminary term to the laying of charges against an individual. He said their names would be revealed on Friday.
However, noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, who will defend three of the suspects, identified five of them: model-actor Anjasmara and model Isabel Yahya, who were the subject of the photos, artist Agus Suwage, photographer Davy Linggar and art critic Jim Supangkat.
"Right now, only Agus, Davy and Isabel have appointed me as their lawyer. We are now trying to contact the other two. We will discuss what steps we will take first," Todung told the Post.
They were involved in putting on a pictorial called Pinkswing Park, showing Anjasmara, a former teenage model and popular TV star, and Isabel posing nude in a lush, Eden-like setting. Their genitalia was covered with figleaves in the photographs, shown at the Bank Indonesia Museum in Central Jakarta.
Todung, also a prominent human rights activist, blasted the police move as an attack on people's freedom of expression. "This is a very bad example for similar cases in the future. It will negatively impact people's freedom of expression," he said.
Artist Agus said he was surprised the police continued to investigate the case. "It has been months already, and I thought the case was over," he told the Post by telephone from his Yogyakarta home. "But I am ready for whatever the risk is because Davy and me have our reasons why we produced the artwork."
The investigation was prompted by a complaint from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) that the photos were blasphemous. The group also argued the exhibition could contribute to moral delinquency of youth.
Agus said nothing obscene or pornographic was intended in the works. "It's a depiction of urban people. It's kind of like they have their own heaven in the city, while we know such a depiction is ironic to what we see in real life."
Police are likely to charge the artists under the Criminal Code's Article 156 on blasphemy, which carries a maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment, as well as 282 on obscenity – for the public display of a pornographic picture or writing – with a maximum 18-month prison term.
University of Indonesia legal expert Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan said the police should be careful to consider the photographs in the context of part of an art exhibition.
"They should see it as an art event. The police must be very clear in making a conclusion that it was an insult to a certain religion or (showed) pornographic acts. In what way? Also, the exhibition was held in a special building designated for specific viewers who understand art. So, it was not for just any individuals," he told the Post.
Organizers of the art event – the second of its kind – immediately declared the event was closed only days after it opened. The decision was made when infotainment tabloid and television gossip shows blew up the case by focusing on Anjasmara.