Rock star faces jail over sex tapes

Bandung - Indonesian prosecutors on Thursday sought a five-year jail term for a rock star accused of spreading his homemade sex videos on the Internet in breach of the country's anti-pornography law.

Nazril Ariel, 29, surrendered to police on June 22 amid a national scandal over the explicit videos, which showed the popular singer having sex with two well-known female television celebrities.

"The court found that he was the man who acted in the videos," prosecutor Rusmanto told reporters after a closed-door hearing.

"The defendant unwillingly admitted his actions, gave long-winded testimonies and was not remorseful over his actions," he said.

Dubbed "Peterporn" after Ariel's band Peterpan, the scandal pushed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to warn that the mainly Muslim nation was at risk of being "crushed by the information technology frenzy".

It also triggered calls for monitoring and censorship of web usage, which has taken off among Indonesia's upwardly mobile urban youth.

The two videos, apparently filmed by Ariel with a mobile phone, had spread virally through Indonesian and Malaysian websites but the singer had denied uploading them.

Outside the courtroom, about a hundred Islamic hardliners clashed briefly with policemen on guard. As with previous hearings, they demanded that the singer receive the harshest penalty.

Ariel, who will be sentenced in two weeks' time, could have faced 12 years in jail and fines of up to $670 000.