Indonesian police arrested 56 men in a raid on a ‘gay’ party and have charged nine of them under pornography laws. Officers have released the remaining 47 men.
But the nine men they claim organized the party may face up to 15 years in prison and a fine. The raid took place in Kuningan, a business district in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on Saturday (29 August).
Homosexuality is not illegal in most of Indonesia. However police have a history of persecuting LGBT+ people. In 2017 they arrested 141 men in a raid on a gay sauna.
In this case, organizers promoted the party as a ‘gathering of men to promote independence’. The party had a red and white dress code, perhaps in honor of Indonesia’s independence day, on 17 August.