A group of men arrested in Indonesia for holding a ‘gay party’ could face up to 15 years in prison, it has emerged.
Officers took 14 people into custody after bursting into two hotel rooms in Surabaya, the second biggest city in the country.
Since Sunday’s arrest, police have named eight suspects, two of whom could face 15 years behind bars for organising the event.
Some of the men were watching gay porn and performing ‘deviant sexual acts’, said Shinto Silitonga, Surabaya police’s head of detectives.
Preliminary charges have been filed under Indonesia’s tough anti-pornography laws. Six of the arrested men were released.
‘This is the first time we enforce the law and arrest gay people in the city,’ Silitonga told AFP.
Except for Aceh province, which upholds sharia law, gay sex is not illegal in Indonesia, which mainly follows a criminal code inherited from former colonial ruler the Netherlands.
However, there was a backlash against the country’s LGBT community last year with government ministers publicly making anti-gay statements.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.