Indonesian rock star Nazril Ariel (right) waits with his girlfriend Luna Maya, before his trial at Bandung court in West Java. -- PHOTO: AFP
BANDUNG (Indonesia) - AN INDONESIAN court on Monday jailed one of South-east Asia's biggest rock stars for more than three years after sex tapes of him with two television celebrities appeared online.
The trial for Nazril 'Ariel' Irham, lead singer of the band Peterpan, has made headlines and dominated chatter on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter for more than three months.
Fans insist he did nothing wrong, making the tapes in the privacy of his own home. But Islamic hard-liners warn that his actions have contributed to the country's moral decline.
The 29-year-old pop star - who said the videos were stolen and posted online without his knowledge - is the first celebrity to be charged with violating the country's strict anti-pornography law that came into effect in 2008.
'I wanna be free,' Ariel told reporters, smiling as he puffed away on a cigarette before being escorted into a packed and electrically charged courtroom before the verdict. 'I didn't distribute those videos.'
Outside the district court in Bandung, about 120km south-east of the capital, Jakarta, hundreds of protesters chanted his name and demanded he be punished. -- AP
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