The editor of Playboy Indonesia was yesterday cleared of distributing indecent pictures to the public and making money from them, after a high-profile trial that exposed deep divisions in the Muslim-majority nation.

Editor-in-chief Erwin Arnada described the verdict as a victory for press freedom. A lawyer representing some Muslim groups said they would seek to bring a new prosecution.

Arnada had argued the magazine was good for developing a pluralistic society, while the prosecution and Islamic hardliners said he had "harmed the nation's morals".

Efran Basuni, the presiding judge at the South Jakarta court, said the prosecution's arguments "could not be accepted" and "were not diligent" because they failed to take account of Indonesian media laws created after the 1998 downfall of President Suharto's government that ushered in press freedom.

About 20 Islamic hardliners attended the trial, with another 200 massed outside, watched by hundreds of police equipped with water cannon.

But the verdict brought only muted reaction from the anti-Playboy group, many of whom were dressed all in white with Indonesian-style caps, and they quickly dispersed.

"The road which we will take is refiling the complaint not only against Playboy but also against other adult magazines," Munarman, a lawyer representing Muslim groups, told reporters.

Arnada later held a news conference in the court complex in which he vowed that Playboy Indonesia would never publish nudity.

"This is a great gift for Playboy Indonesia because up until today for one year my friends and I worked under pressure. Today's verdict proved press freedom is respected in this country," said Arnada, dressed casually in a white open-neck shirt.

Playboy Indonesia's first edition published in April 2006 sparked protests in Indonesia although it had no nudity and less flesh visible in the issue than many other magazines on sale in the world's most populous Muslim country.

Founded in 1953, Playboy has some 20 local editions around the world that cater to local taste rather than simply exporting and translating its US content.

Nonetheless, the name conjures up powerful images of Western excess.

Subsequent editions of the magazine are still on sale in Indonesian cities despite attacks on its Jakarta office after the launch last year. The government has made no move to ban it.

The controversy itself faded after Playboy Indonesia moved operations to the island of Bali, a Hindu enclave where conservative Islam has little clout.

About 85 percent of Indonesia's 220 million people follow Islam. Most Muslims in the country are moderate but there is a radical fringe that has been increasingly vocal and media-savvy.

In recent years, Western lifestyle magazines for Indonesia's growing secular middle class have flooded the market, including more racy titles targeting a male audience such as Maxim and FHM.

However, all have stopped short of nude pictures.

As part of a wider debate over morality in Indonesia, lawmakers have been discussing a bill on pornography, which aims to shield the young from pornographic material and lewd acts.

But draft versions also contained provisions that could jail people for kissing in public and criminalize many forms of art or traditional culture that hinge on sensuality, sparking criticism it could curb freedom and hurt Indonesia's tolerant tradition.

The parliamentary speaker said in February that the bill had been watered down.

Source: China Daily/agencies