Indonesia mayor orders anti-LGBT raids following Sinaga rape conviction
The hometown of an Indonesian student described as Britain’s “most prolific rapist” has been the subject of anti-LGBT raids ordered by the town’s mayor.
Mohammad Idris, mayor of the city of Depok in West Java, asked police to search properties in a bid to stop what he described as “immoral acts” and encouraged residents to report signs of LGBT activity, prompting fears of a wider homophobic backlash.
Depok is the home city of Reynhard Sinaga, the 36-year-old who came to the UK in 2007 and was sentenced to life in prison earlier this month after it was found he had sexually assaulted at least 195 men in Manchester.
Mr Idris labelled the crackdown a “prevention toward the spread of LGBT” and said the decision was motivated by widespread media attention in Sinaga’s case.
The raids have prompted outrage from human rights groups including Amnesty International, who said that the move is the latest in a “vicious campaign of harassment of LGBTI people” in Indonesia.
Usman Hamid, Amnesty International Indonesia’s Executive Director, said: “This latest vicious campaign against LGBTI people must stop. “Same-sex relations are protected under international law and there can be no justification for these hateful raids.”
Though homosexuality is legal in Indonesia, except for the province of Aceh, LGBT people have faced a number of similar crackdowns in recent years.
“The authorities in Indonesia repeatedly launch humiliating crackdowns on suspected same-sex activity, and misuse laws against loitering or public nuisance to harass and arrest LGBTI people,” said Mr Hamid.
“The Indonesian government should also repeal all laws that criminalise specific gender identities and expressions.”
Since 2016, there has been an increase in the number of people arrested for their presumed sexuality or gender identity, including two men who were arrested in 2018 for running a Facebook group for same-sex couples.
There are fears that authorities will attempt to use Sinaga’s case as justification for further reprisals against Indonesia’s LGBT community.
