9 Oct 2017

Indonesia Police Raid Gay Spa, Arrest 58 in Jakarta

A number of foreigners were arrested in the raid and could face six years in jail under pornography charges.

Indonesian police detained 58 men including six foreigners from Thailand, China and Holland in a raid on a gay sauna in Jakarta on Friday, an official told press on Saturday.

Police raided a building in the capital Jakarta that houses a sauna and a gym after they received information from the public that it was being used for prostitution

“We secured 51 men and seven employees for allegedly providing pornographic services,” Jakarta Police spokesman Argo Yuwono said in a statement.

Yuwono said six of those detained would be charged under Indonesia’s anti-pornography law, and could face up to six years in prison.

Andreas Harsono, senior Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch, condemned the arrests.

"This is part of the ongoing anti-LGBT campaign in Indonesia that has been going on since January last year," he told AFP.