Police to question Indonesian celebs over sex clips
Television presenter Luna Maya (left) and model Cut Tari (centre) were allegedly having sex with singer Ariel Peterpan (right) in separate videos
Three Indonesian celebrities who allegedly appeared in sex videos posted on the Internet will be questioned over possible breaches of a new anti-pornography law, police said Wednesday.
Two explicit clips widely circulated online this week appear to show popular singer Ariel Peterpan having sex with television presenter Luna Maya, his current girlfriend, and model Cut Tari, his former girlfriend.
Six-minute and two-minute clips were posted on the Internet last Friday apparently showing him in bed with Luna in a hotel. They quickly made the rounds on websites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Another clip hit the Internet on Tuesday allegedly showing Ariel having sex with Cut, who is married.
The term "Ariel Peterporn" subsequently became one of the most popular searches on Twitter this week, beating hot topics such as the launch of the latest iPhone.
Chief police detective Ito Sumardi said the celebrities would be asked how the clips had appeared on the Internet, Agence France-Presse reported.
"We will question them to find out about the clips and how the videos were circulated in public," Sumardi told reporters.
Luna is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations World Food Programme and has appeared in advertisements with Ariel for a soap made by Anglo-Dutch food and cosmetics giant Unilever. Cut endorses Sharp air-conditioners.
A spokesman for Unilever said the soap ads had been cancelled this week but denied the move was connected to the sex tapes.
Producing or distributing sexually explicit material carries a maximum penalty of 12 years' jail under the tough anti-pornography law passed in the mainly Muslim country in 2008.
The Koran Tempo newspaper reported that students in uniform had been flocking to Internet cafes in cities across Indonesia as the scandal made headlines yesterday.
The Koran Tempo newspaper reported that students in uniform had been flocking to Internet cafes in cities across Indonesia as the scandal made headlines yesterday.
The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission yesterday told television stations to stop showing any part of the footage.
Portions of censored footage of Ariel during his shows have consistently been aired by celebrity gossip shows on national television.
Jakarta's head of education Taufik Mulyanto told Elshinta radio yesterday that his office launched massive checks on students' mobile phones out of concern that they might have downloaded the sex clips.
Muslim lawmakers have said the videos underline the need for tighter controls of the Internet in the country of some 240 million people.
"There should be a heavy punishment for this crime," Communication and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring said in a comment on Twitter.
In 2008, private pictures of various actresses taken by Hong Kong actor Edison Chen were stolen and distributed on the Internet without his consent, after the star sent his computer for repair.
The photos showing Chen having sex with at least six popular actresses, singers and models were released and made headlines here.
A computer technician was convicted and sentenced to jail for obtaining access to a computer with dishonest intent in Hong Kong. Ten people there were arrested in connection with the distribution of the photographs.
- The Straits Times/ANN
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