Thousands of protesters rallied yesterday on Bali against an anti-pornography bill denounced by critics as a threat to national unity.
More than 5,000 protesters surged through the streets of the mostly Hindu island’s capital in opposition to the bill under deliberation in Jakarta. The bill, which looked set to be passed several weeks ago but has been pushed back amid a public outcry, criminalizes all public acts and material capable of raising sexual desires or violating “community morality.”
Protesters denounced the proposed law as too broad and a threat to local customs on Bali, where naked temple statues proliferate and skimpily dressed foreign tourists relax on beaches.
PHOTO: AFP
Demonstrators turned up to the rally in traditional Balinese clothes including semi-see-through temple blouses, saying such clothes could be deemed too suggestive if the law was passed.
“The porn bill clearly doesn’t accommodate minorities and therefore it shouldn’t be passed,” student activist I Wayan Suardana said.
The protest took on a carnival atmosphere with Western-style music and dancing by Papuan tribesmen wearing only traditional penis sheaths, body paint and headdresses made from leaves.
“If the lawmakers pass the porn bill, they will simply destroy our pluralism. It’s a direct threat to our country’s unity and it deserves to be gotten rid of for good,” student activist I Gusti Agung Jelantik said.
The bill, which has been pushed by Muslim parties in Jakarta, is being challenged on other islands in the archipelago nation.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Two former Chilean ministers are among four candidates competing this weekend for the presidential nomination of the left ahead of November elections dominated by rising levels of violent crime. More than 15 million voters are eligible to choose today between former minister of labor Jeannette Jara, former minister of the interior Carolina Toha and two members of parliament, Gonzalo Winter and Jaime Mulet, to represent the left against a resurgent right. The primary is open to members of the parties within Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s ruling left-wing coalition and other voters who are not affiliated with specific parties. A recent poll by the
TENSIONS HIGH: For more than half a year, students have organized protests around the country, while the Serbian presaident said they are part of a foreign plot About 140,000 protesters rallied in Belgrade, the largest turnout over the past few months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government to call early elections. The rally was one of the largest in more than half a year student-led actions, which began in November last year after the roof of a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people — a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption. On Saturday, a sea of protesters filled Belgrade’s largest square and poured into several surrounding streets. The independent protest monitor Archive of Public Gatherings estimated the
Irish-language rap group Kneecap on Saturday gave an impassioned performance for tens of thousands of fans at the Glastonbury Festival despite criticism by British politicians and a terror charge for one of the trio. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organization for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November last year. The rapper, who was charged under the anglicized version of his name, Liam O’Hanna, is on unconditional bail before a further court hearing in August. “Glastonbury,
RSS