Jakarta – The editor of the Indonesian edition of Playboy magazine refused to come out of hiding on Monday to face a two-year jail sentence, as his lawyers pledged to challenge his conviction for indecency.

Prosecutors have twice summoned Erwin Arnada to serve his sentence after the supreme court overturned his acquittal in a lower court and sentenced him two years' jail last month.

He was ordered to appear on Monday but lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said the conviction contravened press freedom and the spirit of democracy established after the fall of President Suharto in 1998.

"This is a very important case. It is not simply about Playboy magazine, it's about press freedom, the pillar of democracy in Indonesia," he told a press conference. "There will be significant negative impact for freedom of expression if they go ahead."

Lubis said the supreme court made a "fundamental blunder" in basing their ruling on the criminal code instead of the civil press law which guarantees press freedoms.

The magazine published only a handful of issues – which did not contain nudity – in 2006. Violent protests from Islamic hardliners forced it to close.

The Islamic Defenders Front, also known as FPI – a vigilante group known for violent intolerance – has condemned Arnada as a "moral terrorist" and ordered its militants to track him down.