Police have decided to arrest Nazril ‘Ariel’ Irham for his part in the so-called Peterporn Scandal. Under the recent anti-pornography laws, he is facing anything from 6 months to 9 years in jail and/or $US660,000 fine. They are holding him for 24 hours pending charges. There is no word on whether they intend to charge his co-stars Luna Maya and Cut Tari. I think they would have trouble proving that the girls ‘made’ the pornographic videos, it seems clear that it was all Ariel’s doing. But it also seems that adultery is still a criminal offense in Indonesia, so there is some scuttlebut that Cut Tari could be prosecuted for that, but I think it’s unlikely because that law has become archaic through lack of use.
The big unanswered question is: What about the pornography distributors? The police have known for a week the IP addresses and the location where the porn was uploaded. But so far there is no news of any raids. Surely the distributors of the porn are more worthy of prison than someone who simply made the vids for his personal use (however sleazy he is)?
Well, there are two elements which probably make those distributors a bit too big for the police to manage. Firstly, the people running the blackmail operation are said to be too closely connected to the ‘Mr Big’ of Indonesia’s underworld. See? He’s so big I don’t want to use his name. I’ll tell you his name if you phone me. Anyhow, why do you think the Mr Bigs in your city never get arrested? Same reason why this one never will. Anyhow, the rumours are that the blackmailers hit more than 30 female celebrities for 10 billion rp each (that’s $US1million, if I’m not mistaken). All of them paid up except Luna and Cut. Although there are a lot of guys hoping that some others will also refuse to pay when Mr Big comes back for a second helping.
The second reason the police will not go after the blackmailers is that some say the release of the videos was timed to distract attention from another scandal which was raging at the time. It implicated a certain well known businessman in a corrupt undertaking. He’s not well loved, but he has connections.
Hysteria concerning the affair has gone as high as the President’s Office. On the weekend, SBY stated his concerns about the effect of internet porn on the population. To some extent I have to agree with him, there is a need to protect the young from corrupting influences. But I think it’s more a matter for parents and the owners of internet cafes to take responsibility for what people are viewing.
As expected, the extreme right wing fundamentalists have jumped on the issue. They see it as an opportunity to introduce sharia law throughout the country. Fortunately they make it sound so unpalateable that it’s unlikely that they will have much influence in this. They are calling for married adulterers to be stoned to death (if that happened, half the population of Jakarta would be executed and the parliament building would be empty).
From Kompas:
Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia coordinator Fadilah Karimah, 32, said she would like to see adulterers buried up to their necks in public places and pelted with stones until dead.
“Those people who have sex before marriage should be caned with a stick 100 times in public. Adulterers should be half-buried and stoned to death,” she told AFP at the rally.
“This is appropriate punishment as what they did was dirty, shameful and despicable. They should be prepared for such a punishment if they want to earn a place in heaven.”
“The more people who see it the better.”
I sometimes wonder what goes on in the minds of people such as Fadilah. But then I realise that I wouldn’t want to know.
You might have noticed the marked improvement in quality. 
Comparing Nigeria with Indonesia
This is Lagos, but it looks like Jakarta except there's no motorbikes
An opinion article on BBC Africa points out that both countries have similar resources (large size, big population, good resource base including oil) and similar histories (former colonies liberated after WW2, military coup in mid 1960’s, military dictatorships ofterthrown in late 1990’s). Yet Indonesia has prospered so that the life expectancy is now around 70 (Nigeria is 47) and per capita income is $2,010 (double that of Nigeria).
The writer, Peter Cunliffe-Jones, postulates that the reason is that the military dictatorship in Indonesia was more fearful of a popular uprising than the one in Nigeria. He says the fear was justified because it was a popular uprising which overthrew Suharto. He also suggests that Indonesia was better able to suppress independance movements.
I’m open to being convinced, but it seems to me that Indonesians aren’t as politically active as Mr Cunliffe-Jones thinks. Even today, people on the street (stall owners, taxi drivers) are unwilling to express an opinion on political issues for fear of reprisal. There are some who say the riots which heralded Suharto’s demise were orchestrated by an army faction.
Even so, Indonesians seem to be quite astute at the polls. I believe they have consistently chosen the superior candidate in every presidential election which they have been able to participate in.
With regard to stability, Indonesia was unable to suppress the East Timorese sufficiently to prevent them from gaining independence. War in Aceh dragged on for decades and nearly culminated in independance for that province too. There are increasing rumblings in West Irian. I’m not as knowledgeable about Nigerian history, but it hasn’t been all roses in Indonesia.
I feel that most of the progress Indonesia has made has been in the past decade. However it arrived, whether forced by the people or by the elite, democracy has served to unwind a lot of the corruption that has clogged business for so long. The army holds a smaller part of the business sector and people seem determined to better their circumstances by engaging in business and securing things such as a better education for their children, a more responsible judiciary etc.
On the topic of Nigeria/Indonesia, there is a highly visible population of Nigerians living in Jakarta. Some of them are working in the oil industry, perhaps that is what brought the first wave. I first noticed them in Tanah Abang, but there are increasing numbers living in Sabang. They’re very noticable because of their height and dark skin colour. There is a high degree of prejudice against them, Indonesians generally consider dark skin unattractive and the local press associates them with the drug trade. Indeed, police seem to have a ’shoot first’ policy towards them. I wonder how many innocent Nigerians have been killed in Jakarta and labelled as drug dealers as an excuse?
UPDATE:
Things might soon begin to improve for Nigerians living in Jakarta, if anything comes from this.