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Indonesian Pop Star Sentenced to 3½ Years for Sex Tapes

In the USA, starring in a "leaked" sex tape could lead to a reality television series. In Indonesia, it can get you in prison.

Twenty-nine-year-old Nazril "Ariel" Irham—lead singer of the popular boyband Peterpan—was sentenced to three and a half years for violating the strict anti-pornography laws in the world's most-populous Muslim-majority nation. The two blurry, homemade sex videos showed him and his current and former celebrity girlfriends, and found their way to the Internet in early June, reports CBSNews.com.

The clips were spread on Facebook and YouTube and quickly distributed by mobile phone, prompting the government to try to impose an online filter on porn, which has been unsuccessful thus far. Irham contends the tapes were stolen from his house and posted online without his consent, but presiding Judge Singgih Budi Prakoso said the pop star did nothing to prevent their widespread distribution.

Irham was the first celebrity to be charged under Indonesia's strict anti-pornography law, which was pushed through by extremists in 2008 despite strong opposition from the public and some members of government. [The judge] sentenced the singer to 3 1/2 years in jail and ordered him to pay a $25,000 fine. The man who admitted to posting the tapes online was sentenced Monday in a separate trial to two years in jail.

An attorney for  Irham said he would appeal the ruling. It is not yet clear if the women in the videos will also be punished.

In 2010, the editor-in-chief of Playboy Indonesia began a two-year prison term for "publishing pictures of scantily clad women," adds the Wall Street Journal.

REPORT: Obama's Indonesian Childhood Nanny was Gay

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama returned to Jakarta, Indonesia, where he lived as a boy from 1967 to 1971. The New York Times journeyed to several of the future president's childhood neighboroods:

The family stayed instead in Matraman-Dalam, on a short block of single-story, detached houses, a stone’s throw from a traditional Indonesian neighborhood of narrow, winding streets. Though he lived in that neighborhood for only two years, Mr. Obama left a lasting impression because of his outgoing and sometimes rowdy personality. "Barry was so naughty that my father even scolded him one time," said Sonni Gondokusumo, 49, a former neighbor and classmate.

Mr. Obama’s family rented the guest house inside a compound belonging to a prominent physician. There, according to the neighborhood’s longtime residents, the young Obama, who had already experienced differences in class and religion in his short stay in Indonesia, was exposed to another aspect of Jakarta’s diversity. His nanny was an openly gay man who, in keeping with Indonesia’s relaxed attitudes toward homosexuality, carried on an affair with a local butcher, longtime residents said. The nanny later joined a group of transvestites called Fantastic Dolls, who, like the many transvestites who remain fixtures of Jakarta’s streetscape, entertained people by dancing and playing volleyball.

Thousands Flee After Indonesian Volcano Erupts After 400 Years

Two people are dead and thousands have been evacuated after Indonesia's long-dormant Mount Sinabung erupted. This is the first time the volcano on Sumatra has erupted in 400 years and vulcanologists were caught off guard, reports Reuters.

Two people died, one from breathing problems and the other from a heart attack, and two suffered injuries in road accidents as trucks, ambulances and buses were mobilized in the rescue operation. "This is the first time since 1600 that Sinabung has erupted and we have little knowledge in terms on its eruptive patterns," said Surono, head of Indonesia's vulcanology center. Authorities took at least 12,000 people from high risk areas on the slopes of the 2,460-meter volcano to temporary shelters. Local TV showed showed women and children wearing face masks in cramped tents. "Since this is the first eruption we've had in Sinabung, we're anticipating residents to remain at the shelters for at least a week while waiting for further status alert," said Priyadi Kardono, a spokesman at the national disaster management agency.

Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago and is on the so-called "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and faults encircling the Pacific Basin. A strong volcanic quake was felt last night, an Indonesian Red Cross tells CNN. "After that, the crater of Mount Sinabung spewed glowing lava. And trees in the mount slopes were burnt. It was followed by thick clouds."

Investigators say no hazardous gas hasbeen detected and "a large, destructive eruption is unlikely." The nearest large city is Medan and where there has been no disruptions to flights so far. Watch raw video and a news report WHEN YOU JUMP ...

PHOTOS: Indonesian Art Exhibit Depicts a Young Barack Obama

The Indonesian childhood of Obama is celebrated in art ...

School children from the State Elementary School Menteng One in Jakarta, Indonesia, formerly attended by President Barack Obama, observe paintings by Indonesian artist Damien Dematra that depict the President when he was young. The President was born in Hawaii and lived in Indonesia  with his mother and stepfather from the ages of 6 to 10.

Dematra has already written two fictionalized books about Obama's Indonesian childhood—"Obama Child from Menteng' and "Obama from Assisi"—and directed a movie based upon the former. Last week the President postponed his second scheduled trip to Australia and Indonesia due to the Gulf of Mexico disaster. Dematra hopes to complete the second movie to coincide with Obama's re-scheduled November trip to Indonesia.

Below is Hasan Faruq Ali, the 12-year-old American actor who portrays the young Barack Obama in the movie. A few more photos of the artwork WHEN YOU JUMP ...

WATCH: Obama on BP, Oil Spill and Hurricanes with "Larry King"

The President sat down with CNN's Larry King to discuss the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP's response and to answer criticism that the government has been too reliant on BP for solutions. Obama also discussed the hurricane season's potential impact on the spill.

Today the President heads to the Louisiana Gulf Coast to assess damage, his third trip there since the April 20 Deepwater Horizon explosion. The White House has announced the President will postpone a trip scheduled for this month to Australia and Indonesia, "the second time in a little more than two months that Obama canceled a trip to the two countries," reports Reuters.

Watch the video AFTER THE JUMP...

HOT: Wittemberg by JoeTickNow

Last week you met Wittemberg Stanley in several very flattering swimsuits for Kemuel Valdes. This week we'd like to share another editorial featuring the same model by photographer Joe TickNow.

TickNow is originally from Indonesia and now based in New York City. He's a relatively new photographer but already has a brilliant eye for capturing the male physique. These images were lensed at Coney Island and Jones Beach. Several more WHEN YOU JUMP ...

1000+ Dead After Earthquakes and Tsunami Hit Indonesia, Samoa

UPDATE: AFP confirms almost 500 dead in Indonesia.

The death toll rises after a series of tsunamis caused by an undersea quaked slammed the Samoan archipelago. Then the devastating quake in Western Sumatra, Indonesia:

"It measured 7.9, just shy of the size of earthquake that sparked [the] tsumani. ... Health Ministry crisis centre head Rustam Pakaya warning it could exceed 1,000 in the city of close to one million residents. Thousands of people were trapped as buildings, roads and bridges collapsed. The earthquake also triggered a landslide which cut power and telecommunications, resulting in further confusion."

The Padang Fault is the same fault line that triggered the catastrophic December 2004 tsunami that killed more than 200,000.

The tsunami death toll in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga is at least 110 and will likely increase. American Samoa is said to be "in ruin". 

Some video from Indonesia, AFTER THE JUMP.

Developing: Massive Earthquake Rocks Western Indonesia

A powerful underwater earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island. Reuters reports hundreds of casualties and thousands are feared trapped beneath flattened buildings.

The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.6 and was one of several earthquakes in the region following yesterday's devastating Samoan earthquake and tsunami. The Indonesian quake is on the same fault line that triggered the catastrophic December 2004 tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people across the Indian Ocean region. More details later ...

Indonesia: Stoning for Adulterers, Lashing and Prison for Homosexuals

More on a story we first reported last night. Only weeks before they are ousted from power for a more moderate government, hard-liners in Indonesia's devoutly Muslim Aceh province voted unanimously that adulterers can be stoned to death and gays should be publicly lashed and imprisoned.

NPR: "The new Indonesian law also imposes tough sentences and fines, to be paid in kilograms of gold, for rape and pedophilia, but the most hotly disputed article was on adultery and states that offenders can be punished by a minimum of 100 lashings and a maximum of stoning to death. It also imposes severe prison terms for other behavior considered morally unacceptable, including homosexuality, which will be punishable by public lashings and more than eight years in prison."

A gay rights activist in Aceh says the bill violates national and international treaties signed by Indonesia protecting the rights of minorities and women. Aceh province suffered the brunt of the devastating 2005 tsunami and some 130,000 were killed.

Stoning to death under harsh Sharia law is legally sanctioned in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and parts of Nigeria.