Playboy Indonesia
Encyclopedia
Playboy Indonesia is a franchise of Playboy magazine in Indonesia
. It is published by Velvet Silver Media and edited by Erwin Arnada. This edition of the magazine is notable in that it features no nudity and that it is the first Playboy to be published in a Muslim
country since a Turkish
edition that was discontinued in the mid-1990s.
Despite tailoring the magazine to conservative local sensibilities, with fully clad models and articles such as an interview with dissident author Pramoedya Ananta Toer
, the magazine's premiere issue on April 6, 2006 raised significant controversy. Islam
ist groups such as Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI) and the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) staged large protests as well as legal challenges to the magazine. One of the more violent protests in Jakarta
caused the owner of the ASEAN
Aceh Fertilizer Building, where the Playboy office was located, to evict Velvet Silver Media.
The magazine then moved its headquarters to Bali
, which is predominantly Hindu
and less restrictive than Islamic-ruled Jakarta, and put out its second issue in June 2006. The second issue carried no advertisements. Around 100,000 copies of each edition were printed and both sold out. Major advertisers returned for the third issue in July.
As a result of the legal challenges, police in Jakarta investigated models Andhara Early and Kartika Gunawan, who posed in the first issue, declaring them suspects for violating indecency rules. The magazine's editor-in-chief, Erwin Arnada, was also questioned. He was charged with violating the indecency provisions of the criminal code, but acquitted the following year. However by 2010 he was back in prison for publication of (non-nude) pictures.
In June 24, 2011 Erwin Arnada has left the prison after Supreme Court (second) acquittal proposed by Erwin Arnada was success. Many people assumed his release as a triumph for freedom of the press in this predominantly Muslim country.
The controversy surrounding Playboy in Indonesia punctuated the issue of pornography legislation opposed by prominent Indonesian Feminists, including Kamala Chandrakirana, chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, who spoke openly in support of Playboy Indonesia.
In an editorial in the June issue, Arnada wrote: "The absence of a growing monopoly of a set of values and views in our beloved country in the end is our final purpose. We believe that is also the target of all of us who live with reason and want to understand the meaning of democracy and a pluralistic society."
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. It is published by Velvet Silver Media and edited by Erwin Arnada. This edition of the magazine is notable in that it features no nudity and that it is the first Playboy to be published in a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
country since a Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
edition that was discontinued in the mid-1990s.
Despite tailoring the magazine to conservative local sensibilities, with fully clad models and articles such as an interview with dissident author Pramoedya Ananta Toer
Pramoedya Ananta Toer
Pramoedya Ananta Toer was an Indonesian author of novels, short stories, essays, polemic and histories of his homeland and its people...
, the magazine's premiere issue on April 6, 2006 raised significant controversy. Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ist groups such as Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI) and the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) staged large protests as well as legal challenges to the magazine. One of the more violent protests in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
caused the owner of the ASEAN
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated ASEAN rarely ), is a geo-political and economic organization of ten countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, membership has...
Aceh Fertilizer Building, where the Playboy office was located, to evict Velvet Silver Media.
The magazine then moved its headquarters to Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
, which is predominantly Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
and less restrictive than Islamic-ruled Jakarta, and put out its second issue in June 2006. The second issue carried no advertisements. Around 100,000 copies of each edition were printed and both sold out. Major advertisers returned for the third issue in July.
As a result of the legal challenges, police in Jakarta investigated models Andhara Early and Kartika Gunawan, who posed in the first issue, declaring them suspects for violating indecency rules. The magazine's editor-in-chief, Erwin Arnada, was also questioned. He was charged with violating the indecency provisions of the criminal code, but acquitted the following year. However by 2010 he was back in prison for publication of (non-nude) pictures.
In June 24, 2011 Erwin Arnada has left the prison after Supreme Court (second) acquittal proposed by Erwin Arnada was success. Many people assumed his release as a triumph for freedom of the press in this predominantly Muslim country.
The controversy surrounding Playboy in Indonesia punctuated the issue of pornography legislation opposed by prominent Indonesian Feminists, including Kamala Chandrakirana, chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, who spoke openly in support of Playboy Indonesia.
In an editorial in the June issue, Arnada wrote: "The absence of a growing monopoly of a set of values and views in our beloved country in the end is our final purpose. We believe that is also the target of all of us who live with reason and want to understand the meaning of democracy and a pluralistic society."
External links
- "Playboy's Indonesia edition enrages - and disappoints", The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
online edition, April 7, 2006.