Indonesian police have arrested dozens of men accused of holding a ‘gay sex party’ at a gym and sauna in the capital Jakarta.
Officers raided a venue called Atlantis in the late hours of Sunday and halted an event they dubbed ‘The Wild One’, arresting 141 men including one Briton and one Singaporean.
While homosexuality is legal everywhere in Indonesia except conservative Aech province, which is ruled by Sharia law, police said up to 10 men could be charged under the country’s harsh pornography laws.
The arrests mark the country’s latest crackdown on the LGBT community after a similar raid in Surabaya, the second largest city, earlier this month.
A 20-year-old and his 23-year-old partner were also sentenced to 85 lashes each for having gay sex in Aech province after being found in bed together back in March.
Speaking about the latest raid, a police spokesman said: ‘Our officers did an undercover investigation and raided the place on Sunday.’
Pictures circulating online showed topless men sitting crammed in a room next to gym equipment after the police raid.
The men facing charges include the alleged organisers of the event as well as men suspected of being prostitutes and striptease dancers.
Those found guilty of breaking the laws face up to 10 years in jail.
The other detained men are still being questioned by police as potential witnesses in the case, the detective said.
Since last year, ministers, hardliners and influential Islamic groups in Indonesia have been lining up to publicly denounce homosexuality.
Eight men detained in the Surabaya raid are still facing charges under anti-porn laws, which can be interpreted to include erotic dances.
All 14 of those arrested were paraded in front of television cameras and subsequently forced to have HIV tests.
The men in Aech province were caught having sex after a vigilante group burst into the boarding house where they were staying in provincial capital Banda Aceh.
Shaky phone footage of the raid that circulated online showed the vigilantes kicking, slapping and insulting the men, with one of them slumped naked on the ground during the attack.
While caning is a commonly-used punishment for violating morality laws in Aech, the men’s sentencing earlier this month marked the first time it was used for gay sex.
Aech is the only province in Indonesia to have incorporated Sharia into its legal system after passing laws back in 2015.
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