Yuli Krisna, Heru Andriyanto & AFP, Bandung – Indonesian rock star Nazril Irham went on trial on Monday, charged with distributing two homemade sex videos on the Internet, in a case that has shocked and fascinated the country in equal measure.
The 29-year-old defendant, popularly known as Ariel, appeared at the closed-door trial in Bandung District Court facing criminal charges including those filed under the 2008 Anti-Pornography Law, prosecutor Rusmanto told reporters.
More than 500 police were on hand to providing security, while adoring Ariel fans – mostly young women – mixed with radical Islamists outside the court, illustrating the yawning cultural divide the case has opened in Indonesia.
"There are so many cases like this. Why are they freed and not Ariel? Is it because he's famous? We want justice," 22-year-old waitress Ruri Astari said, as around 20 fans sang Ariel's hit songs and carried "Free Ariel" banners.
Islamic hard-liner Hirman Firdaus said the free-spirited rock 'n' roll singer was a threat to society and deserved the maximum penalty. "I want him to be severely punished. This is immoral," he said.
Dozen of people from the Islamic People's Forum (FUI) rallied outside the court, demanding that the pop singer be jailed for indecency.
If convicted, Ariel could face 12 years in jail and fines of up to6 billion rupiah ($670,000) for offenses including spreading pornography on the Internet. "Ariel helped to facilitate the distribution of pornographic videos," Rusmanto said.
The singer looked relaxed in a gray shirt and black trousers as he spoke to reporters from behind bars in the court lockup. "I've read the charges. I'm ready to face anything," he said.
Ariel has been behind bars since he surrendered to police on June 22 amid a media circus over the explicit videos, which allegedly showed him having sex separately with two television celebrities, Luna Maya, 27, and Cut Tari, 33. Luna remains his girlfriend and was at court on Monday.
Neither Luna nor Cut Tari have been charged with any offense, although Islamic hard-liners have called for Cut Tari – who is married – to be stoned to death for adultery. Both women have lost lucrative marketing deals as a result of the scandal.
The clips have been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people online and sparked fears about a wave of licentiousness and immorality spreading among the country's youths through the Internet.
Afrian Bondjol, an attorney for Ariel, said prosecutors indicted his client for participating in the distribution of the sex videos featuring himself.
"Such an indictment is ridiculous. Ariel is fully aware that he is a public figure. Why would he participate in the video's distribution, knowing it could ruin his career?" Afrian said.
"That's equivalent to committing suicide, which is impossible for Ariel. He would never do something so stupid."
"I can tell you, nothing in the indictment describes, in detail, the sexual relationships [portrayed in the videos]."
"The indictment mentions articles from the pornographic law and the Information and Electronic Transactions Law [ITE]. We presented our preliminary defense to convince the judges the prosecution had no case. If our argument is accepted, the trial will be done," Afrian said.
"Otherwise, we have prepared a list of witnesses and we will certainly cross-examine testimonies, especially those accusing my client of helping to distribute the videos."
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned that the nation of 237 million people was at risk of being "crushed by the information-technology frenzy".
Dubbed "Peterporn" after Ariel's band Peterpan, the scandal also fueled efforts to purge the Internet of pornography.
Web usage has taken off among Indonesia's upwardly mobile urban youth, who have come from nowhere to rank among the world's biggest users of social media sites over the past five years.
The trial is taking place in closed hearings to protect the public from the inappropriate sexual nature of the subject matter, according to the judge. The court is adjourned until Nov. 29.