Police to step up security for Ariel trial

BANDUNG: The police said it would deploy nearly a thousand officers to provide security at Monday’s trial of pop singer Nazriel “Ariel” Irham, who is implicated in a sex video scandal.

“We will have 956 police officers on standby,” Bandung Police chief Sr. Comr. Jaya Subrianto said Sunday.

He added that a heightened police presence was needed given the publicity generated by the trial and the fact that up to 5,000 protesters were planning to assemble outside the courthouse. Some fundamentalist hardliners have called for Ariel to receive a heavy sentence.

Ariel, the lead singer of Bandung-based pop-rock band Peterpan, allegedly appeared in a widely seen video clips having sex with his fiancée Luna Maya and, separately, TV presenter Cut Tari.

Ariel faces charges of distributing pornographic material, with prosecutors seeking a five-year prison sentence. — JP