TWO Indonesian provinces have said they will not comply with an anti-pornography law they say would stifle traditional Balinese and Papuan culture.
The Constitutional Court upheld the law this week, rejecting arguments that it defined pornography too broadly and could be used to impose conservative Muslim values on other groups and to justify attacks on art.
Legislators in Papua province – a
largely tribal region where women customarily go topless – said the law passed in 2008 had never been implemented there because it could not be enforced. The governor of Bali, a Hindu island that draws many tourists, said he opposed the law because it went against Balinese society.
Komarudin Watubun, deputy house speaker for Papua provincial council, said it would be impractical to impose it in Papua.
"The people here in Papua have never bothered with the law. It's like other laws in Indonesia where many people just realise that it cannot be enforced so why should we bother with it?" he said.
The legislation passed with strong support from conservative Islamist parties, though more than 100 legislators walked out to protest at its approval. It outlaws sexual images, gestures and even conversations. Violators can be jailed for up to 12 years.
Bali's governor Made Mangku Pastika said he had long objected to the anti-pornography law since it went against Balinese society.
"We reject porn crimes, but this law also does not suit the sociological and psychological aspect of Balinese society," he said, speaking to a group in the provincial capital of Denpasar.
Of the 235 million Indonesians, 90 per cent are Muslim, most practising a moderate form of the faith. But many islands have Christians and Hindu populations.
