Playboy Indonesia editor released from jail after nine months

Playboy Indonesia editor released from jail after nine months

2011-06-25 04:39:05 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAKARTA (BNO NEWS) -- The former editor of the short-lived Indonesian edition of Playboy magazine was released on Friday after the Supreme Court overturned his two-year jail sentence for public indecency.


The Jakarta Globe reported that Erwin Arnada was released on Friday afternoon from East Jakarta's Cipinang Penitentiary, where he had been detained since October for public indecency. The former editor said his release from prison marks a victory for press freedom in the country.



"My release is proof that freedom of the press in Indonesia is still respected, and I hope there will be no other journalists prosecuted as I have been under the Criminal Code," he said outside the prison's gates, while wearing a T-shirt reading: "Journalism is not a crime."



"I do not feel that I have become a victim or a hero. I feel that I have become part of Indonesian history in fighting for freedom of the press. And I believe the statement on my T-shirt explains more than what I just said." 



Conservative Muslim groups pressed charges of public indecency against Erwin in 2007, shortly after the launch of the local version of Playboy, which did not feature nudity. He was later acquitted by the South Jakarta District Court.

However, on appeal, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling in 2009 and sentenced Erwin to two years in jail. In May, the court overturned its own ruling, yet an official copy of the decision only reached Erwin's lawyer this week. 


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