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Indonesia court jails men for two years over 'gay sex party'

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Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA - An Indonesian court has sentenced ten men to two years in prison for taking part in a gay sex party at a sauna, court documents show.The group were among at least 141 men detained during a raid on a building that houses a sauna and a gym in the capital Jakarta in May.While most were released, ten were charged and found guilty last Thursday of violating the country’s controversial 2008 anti-pornography law.&quot;(The defendants) have been proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt of displaying nudity and sexual exploitation collectively in public,&quot; said the documents, which have been reviewed by AFP.The North Jakarta Court also ordered the defendants to pay one billion rupiah ($73,700) in fines.The sentencing is further evidence of growing hostility towards Indonesia&#x27;s small lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.Homosexuality and gay sex are legal everywhere in Indonesia except in conservative Aceh province, but police have used the country&#x27;s tough anti-pornography laws or drugs charges to criminalise LGBT people in the past 18 months.Rights groups condemned the decision to jail the men.&quot;It is an abuse of these gay men&#x27;s rights. It is not a crime, they did not hurt anyone,&quot; said Andreas Harsono, a Human Rights Watch researcher in Jakarta.The men, who were tried in two separate closed court hearings, were sentenced the same day the Indonesian Constitutional Court rejected a bid to outlaw extramarital sex.The unsuccessful petition would have affected both unmarried heterosexuals and gay people, who cannot marry in Indonesia. Its rejection was seen as a victory by LGBT communities.Jakarta’s Community Legal Aid Institute, which often provide legal assistance to LGBT-related cases, said the timing was ironic.&quot;While the Constitutional Court said social norms should not be addressed using law enforcement, the North Jakarta court sentenced these people using such a problematic law,&quot; its director Ricky Gunawan told AFP.<div>bbs/hp/sm</div><div>© Agence France-Presse</div>

JAKARTA - An Indonesian court has sentenced ten men to two years in prison for taking part in a gay sex party at a sauna, court documents show.

JAKARTA - An Indonesian court has sentenced ten men to two years in prison for taking part in a gay sex party at a sauna, court documents show.