JAKARTA: Indonesian police detained dozens of men in a weekend raid on a gay sauna in the capital Jakarta, another sign of growing hostility to homosexuality in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Police spokesman Argo Yuwono said 141 men were detained for questioning in the raid on Sunday evening on the gym and sauna in north Jakarta.
Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia but police said on Monday that those detained had violated the country's pornography laws. Last month, police in Surabaya, the country's second largest city, arrested 14 men at what they alleged was a sex party and forced them to have HIV tests.
A police statement said the Jakarta sauna was the venue for a sex party promoted as "The Wild One." It said those arrested included several performers and the owner.
Indonesia's low-profile LGBT community has been increasingly under siege in the past year. Prejudice has been fanned by stridently anti-gay comments from cabinet ministers and other high-profile Indonesians.
Last week, a Shariah court in the conservative province of Aceh sentenced two men to public caning for gay sex.
Vigilantes broke into the couple's rented accommodation to film them having sex and handed them over to Shariah police. The court sentenced the men, aged 20 and 23, to 85 lashes each, sparking condemnation from rights groups.
Aceh is the only province in Indonesia to practice Shariah law though some areas have adopted Shariah-style bylaws.