Muslims target Playboy office

JAKARTA – Hundreds of Muslim hardliners yesterday attacked the offices of the newly-published Indonesian edition of Playboy magazine.

About 300 protesters from the radical Islamic Defenders’ Front (FPI) rallied outside the building to demand that the local version of the magazine, which carries no nude photos, cease publication. They tore up copies of the magazine and threw stones at the building, shattering windows.One of some 90 policemen guarding the building was injured but most of the magazine’s employees had left the offices when the attack happened.There were no immediate reports of arrests but witnesses said some police chased stone-throwers.”We will carry out more attacks if Playboy refuses to stop publishing,” Salim Ali Hamid, one of the leaders of the group, told Elshinta radio.The group had earlier yesterday protested the publication of the magazine at national police headquarters in South Jakarta.Playboy Indonesian edition hit the newsstands last Friday for the first time and was quickly snapped out.Copies later changed hands at more than three times the cover price of 39 000 rupiah (US$4,3).It features pictures of underwear-clad women and is no racier than local editions of British men’s magazines FHM and Maxim already on sale here.It also carried an interview with Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesia’s most famous author.- Nampa-AFPThey tore up copies of the magazine and threw stones at the building, shattering windows.One of some 90 policemen guarding the building was injured but most of the magazine’s employees had left the offices when the attack happened.There were no immediate reports of arrests but witnesses said some police chased stone-throwers.”We will carry out more attacks if Playboy refuses to stop publishing,” Salim Ali Hamid, one of the leaders of the group, told Elshinta radio.The group had earlier yesterday protested the publication of the magazine at national police headquarters in South Jakarta.Playboy Indonesian edition hit the newsstands last Friday for the first time and was quickly snapped out.Copies later changed hands at more than three times the cover price of 39 000 rupiah (US$4,3).It features pictures of underwear-clad women and is no racier than local editions of British men’s magazines FHM and Maxim already on sale here.It also carried an interview with Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesia’s most famous author. – Nampa-AFP