Yuli Krisna & Kinanti Pinta Karana – Few, if any, seem to have been pleased by Monday's verdict that found pop star Nazril "Ariel" Irham guilty of "giving other people the opportunity to spread, make and provide pornography."
The three and a half year jail sentence handed down to the singer by the Bandung District Court, 18 months less than the prosecution had demanded, was immediately decried for being too low by one camp, and too high by another.
Ariel was convicted of violating the Anti-Pornography Law and the Criminal Code in relation to three sex videos that feature a man resembling him having sex separately with TV presenters Cut Tari and Luna Maya, the singer's girlfriend. He was also fined Rp 250 million ($28,000).
The presiding judge, Singgih Budi Prakoso, said one of the factors affecting Ariel's sentence was his celebrity status.
"He has a lot of fans, mostly teenagers, who we fear might imitate his wrongdoing. Also, he consistently denied that the man in the sex videos was him even though digital forensics suggested otherwise," Prasoko said.
Ariel's lawyer, OC Kaligis, immediately said he would appeal the verdict that was "based on public opinion," while the lead prosecutor, Rusmanto, said he would consider an appeal.
The verdict was greeted by hysterical screams from hundreds of fans of the singer's band, Peterpan, wearing "Freedom for Ariel" T-shirts, while Luna cried. Dangdut singer Camelia Malik and senior artist Titiek Puspa, also in tears, were seen trying to calm her.
Angry fans outside the court also went hysterical, saying the verdict was unfair. "We refuse the verdict. Injustice has been done to Ariel," a teenage boy shouted to the judges while his friends cried.
But another camp consisting of Islamic hard-liners, who had pelted Ariel with rotten eggs and tomatoes as he entered the courtroom, expressed a different kind of disappointment.
"The law is not fair. This is not justice. Let's all support the general prosecutor to appeal the verdict!," they said.
They vandalized a number of cars parked in front of the court, including those of Titiek and human right activist Yenni Rosa Damayanti. Titiek and Yenni said they planned to report the incident to the Bandung Police.
Twitter and Facebook were instantly abuzz with indignant reactions to the verdict.
Prominent lawyer Taufik Basari took to Twitter and wrote, "A private video was 'stolen' and spread, victim of the stealing was then jailed for 3 years and six months, weird."
Many questioned the kind of justice system the country had, comparing Ariel's sentence to the seven years given to graft convict Gayus Tambunan and the less than a year handed down to soldiers found guilty of torturing Papuans.
The Twitter account @FPIYeah, a tongue-in-cheek poke at the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a staunch critic of Ariel, wrote: "The victim of private video theft is given a heavier sentence than a corruptor. We love this country."
Eko Kalo, a lawyer, questioned the fine. "The fine in Ariel's case is Rp 250 million, where is the country's loss? While Gayus, who stole the money of the country, only has to pay Rp 300 million," he said.
Criminal law expert Chairul Huda said it wasn't fair that the main perpetrator in the case, Redjoy, the person who distributed the video through the Internet, got a more lenient sentence.
Redjoy, a co-defendant in the case was convicted of distributing the sex videos and jailed for two years. Prosecutors said that unlike Ariel, Redjoy had confessed his crime and shown remorse.
"Ariel was indicted with taking part in the video distribution. The person who really distributed the video should have been given a longer jail term," Huda said.
But Asrorun Niam Soleh, the deputy chairman of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), expressed disappointment with what he considered the leniency of the sentence, adding that he believed the sex videos encouraged people to rape children.
[Additional reporting by Heru Andriyanto & Nurfika Osman.]