Indonesia jails pop star over internet sex tapes

An INDONESIAN pop star whose sex tapes with his celebrity girlfriends spread wildly on the internet has been jailed for three and a half years.

The trial highlighted a divide between a youthful Indonesia set against internet censorship and conservative pressure groups in the world's most populous Muslim country who rallied outside the court demanding a harsher penalty. Nazril "Ariel" Irham, 30, was jailed under a pornography law passed in 2008 to ban public displays of nudity and behaviour that could incite lust.

"The defendant is legitimately and convincingly guilty of giving chances for others to spread, make and provide pornography," said judge Singgih Budi Prakoso in a west Javan court, where 1,000 police tried to control a rowdy crowd.

Police said earlier a friend of Irham's had taken the sex tape off his computer and posted it on the internet. Irham denied it was him on the tape.

The crowd included teenaged female fans of Irham's band, Peterpan, wearing T-shirts with the word "freedom", and members of Islamic groups.