Jakarta – Police officers involved in the crackdown on obscene materials in the capital are not second guessing themselves on whether covers of local adult magazines and tabloids qualify as smut or art. It only takes the showing of skin for a publication to fall foul of the law.

A total of 105 books, 37,000 tabloids and 350 magazines were confiscated recently from newsstands in the five municipalities of Jakarta as well as Depok municipality.

Among such provocatively titled soft-core porn magazines as Lipstik, Girls Wild, Expose and Exotica were mainstream publications of Indonesian versions of Rolling Stone, Male Emporium and For Him Magazine, as well as local men's magazines Matra and Popular.

They were put on display for officials and the media at Jakarta Police Headquarters on Monday, along with 1,874 pirated DVDs and 500 VCDs with pornographic content.

"We've conducted the raids over the past three days, starting Friday, after the National Police chief instructed all city police forces in Indonesia to eradicate pornography," Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said.

They have also arrested 15 alleged manufacturers of the pirated VCDs and DVDs, and questioned 105 people suspected of engaging in the distribution and trade of the adult materials.

The crackdown comes amid the ongoing controversy over the bill on pornography, which is currently before the House of Representatives.

The police said they consulted criminologists, the Press Council and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) on the legal basis for the raids. "The House has not yet passed the pornography law, but if Jakartans are disturbed by the existing pornographic media, then we have the authority to take action," Firman said.

In the joint press conference, State Minister for Information and Communication Sofyan A. Djalil said the government was concerned by the growing presence of pornography. "However, the government still hesitates to arrest the perpetrators because there is no regulation stipulating (punishment) on the issue," he said.

The Criminal Code authorizes the police to arrest a person who shows, disseminates and displays pornographic pictures or writing in public, an offense which may lead to a maximum jail sentence of two years and eight months. "But the article just punishes a person but not the porn producers," Sofyan said.

In lieu of the new law, the government will use the 1999 Press Law, which bars media from showing pornography, to stop its production, he added. He added a regulation should restrict the distribution of adult materials. "In the United States, porn magazines or that kind of material is legal. But the distribution is restricted to adults only."

The police will also act against phone sex services, models and photographers involved in producing pornographic materials or pornographic broadcasts. "But we will discuss the issue with experts first before taking any action," Firman said.