Jakarta – The second edition of Indonesian Playboy, which hit the streets Wednesday, is not opposed by the nation's Press Council but hard-line Islamic groups are threatening street demonstrations until the magazine is shut down for good.
The council said Playboy had broken no laws and should not be banned. However, the militant and often-lawless vigilante group, the Islam Defender Front (FPI), said the adult magazine threatened the moral fiber of the nation.
The second edition of the magazine bearing the trademark bunny logo hit the nation's streets almost two months after the first infuriated conservative Muslims, who attacked the magazine's offices in Jakarta and forced it to relocate to the predominantly Hindu Bali.
The Press Council's Sabam Leo Batubara told The Jakarta Post that the second edition of Playboy had met all requirements for a legal publication. "The magazine had not violated the press law, and no one should prohibit it," he said.
Sabam said the magazine featured only "soft pornography" and it should be tolerated as adult media the like other raunchy titles already on sale in the country. "Soft porn is allowed as long as it is not sold to children. Soft porn and sex education is OK for adults," Sabam said.
After the publication of the first edition, the Press Council criticized Playboy for selling copies in the street.
FPI leader Habib Riziq Shihab said that by continuing to publish, Playboy had "challenged" the Muslim majority and said Muslim activists would "take the challenge." "We will take to the streets soon to protest the publication," he told the Antara news wire.
Riziq said he believed the news about Playboy moving its offices to Bali was only a ploy to fool its critics. He promised to visit the magazines former headquarters in Fatmawati, South Jakarta, to check whether it remained a distribution center.
Other hard-line groups, including the Indonesian Mujahidin Council, the Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia and Betawi Brotherhood Forum also plan to take to the streets in the coming days.
Several members of the House of Representatives said they regretted the reappearance of Playboy because it would provoke public violence.
A National Mandate Party legislator Djoko Susilo told detik.com the publisher should have delayed the second edition until the heat surrounding the controversy had dissipated.
Ida Fauziah, of the Nation Awakening Party, meanwhile, feared another round of attack on the magazine and its sellers unless it changed its distribution policy.
Erwin Arnada, the publisher and chief editor of Playboy, said that starting from the third edition, the magazine would be distributed only to exclusive bookstores in the country's big cities, targeting 25- to 45-year-old readers.
"We will not allow it to be sold on the streets and we will put a 'for adults only' label on its cover," he said.