Punk rockers sent to rehab in Indonesian province

Dec 14, 2011, 7:28 GMT

Jakarta - 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, local media reported Wednesday.

The young men were to spend 10 days at the police school having religious and other lessons, said Illiza Sa'aduddin Djamal, deputy mayor of the provincial capital Banda Aceh, according to the tribunnews.com website.

'After receiving guidance, we hope they can live normal lives and not return to their lifestyle as punk kids living on the streets,' Djamal was quoted as saying.

'Punk communities must not exist in Aceh, even more so because the Aceh people are committed to practising Islamic law,' Djamal was quoted as saying by the Suara Pembaruan daily.

The men were arrested at a charity rock concert on Saturday night.

Aceh police chief Iskandar Hasan said what the authorities did was not against human rights.

'They are our nation's children who need to be saved,' Hasan reportedly 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.