LEAD: Punk rockers sent to rehab in Indonesian province

Dec 14, 2011, 11:04 GMT

Banda Aceh, Indonesia - Authorities in Indonesia's staunchly Muslim province of Aceh have rounded up 65 punk rock fans and sent them to a police school for rehabilitation, police said Wednesday.

Since their arrest at a rock concert on Saturday, the youths, including five women, had been forced to shave, bathe in a river 'to purify themselves' and trade their torn t-shirts and tight jeans for ordinary clothes, Aceh police chief Iskandar Hasan said.

On Tuesday they were sent to a police school, where they would spend 10 days having religious and other lessons, he said.

'People see their behaviour as deviant and we want to change their lifestyle into better ones,' Hasan told dpa by telephone.

'These kids didn't shower or observe Muslim prayers, and they smelled bad,' he said, adding that they also often harassed women on the streets.

Hasan said the police action was not a violation of human rights. 'This is a free country but there are limits,' he said.

One of those arrested, Fuazan, said his lifestyle did not threaten anyone.

'We don't steal or disturb other people, so what have we done wrong to be treated like this?' he said.

Aceh imposes a form of Islamic law under a special autonomy scheme granted to the province as part of central government efforts to pacify a clamour for independence.

The government signed a peace deal with the Free Aceh Movement in 2005, ending decades of conflict that left more than 15,000 dead.