Cops want you to do more than turn down the volume:
"Police detain and shave dozens after raiding Indonesian punk rock concert" December 15, 2011|Associated Press
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Police in Indonesia’s most conservative province raided a punk rock concert and detained 65 fans, buzzing off their mohawks and stripping away body piercings because of the perceived threat to Islamic values.
Dog-collar necklaces and chains also were taken from the youths before they were thrown in pools of water for “spiritual’’ cleansing, local police chief Iskandar Hasan said yesterday.
After replacing their clothes, he handed each a toothbrush and barked, “Use it.’’
The crackdown marked the latest effort by authorities to promote strict moral values in Aceh, the only province in this secular but predominantly Muslim nation of 240 million to have imposed Islamic laws.
Though pierced and tattooed teens have complained for months about harassment, Saturday’s roundup at a concert attended by more than 100 people was by far the biggest and most dramatic bust yet.
Baton-wielding police scattered fans, many of whom had traveled from other parts of the nation to attend.
Hasan said 59 young men and five women were loaded into vans and brought to a police detention center 30 miles from the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.
They would spend 10 days getting rehabilitation, training in military-style discipline, and religious classes, including Koran recitation, he said. Afterward, they will be sent home.
Twenty-year-old punker, Fauzan, was mortified. “Why? Why my hair?!’’ he said, pointing to his clean-shaven head. “We didn’t hurt anyone. This is how we’ve chosen to express ourselves. Why are they treating us like criminals?’’
The women, some in tears, were given short, blunt bobs.
Hasan insisted he’d done nothing wrong.
“We’re not torturing anyone,’’ the police chief said. “We’re not violating human rights. We’re just trying to put them back on the right moral path.’’
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Don't get caught singing along, either:
"Lip-synching Indonesian officer fired" December 08, 2011|Associated Press
JAKARTA, Indonesia - First, Indonesian police were angry about a young police officer’s YouTube lip-synching antics. Then, they championed him for softening the image of an unloved force. Now, after he put stardom over police duty, Norman Kamaru has been fired....
As a new, unexpected asset to the force - widely considered corrupt - Kamaru started appearing regularly on TV talk shows in full uniform. And, it turned out, he had a voice.
With a $100,000 record deal in hand, Kamaru told his bosses he wanted out. They said no, but he stopped coming to work.
A spokesman for the national police said Kamaru was dishonorably discharged Tuesday.
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