Nazril Irham, more popularly known as Ariel, is an Indonesian rock star. He is the lead singer of Indonesian band Noah. Ariel is of Malay descent from his father's side and Minangkabau from his mother's side. He has appeared in advertisements. He was arrested in 2010 on charges relating to celebrity sex tapes found circulating on the internet after his laptop was stolen.
The Bill against Pornography and Pornoaction came into effect in Indonesia in 2008. In June 2010 Ariel was charged with breaking the law by appearing in two sex videos found on the Internet. Ariel claims the tapes were stolen from his house and posted online without his consent, but the judge said the pop star did nothing to prevent their widespread distribution. TV presenter Luna Maya and soap opera star Cut Tari denied being the women in the videos. On July 9, 2011, Cut Tari finally admitted to being in one of three sex videos. Her lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea said her client had confessed to featuring in the video with band lead singer Nazril 'Ariel' Ilham. The confession made as his client did not want to preempt the police's investigation into the case. The sex video prompted an outpouring of criticism from conservative Muslims. Ariel was held in custody from his arrest until his trial, in Bandung, West Java, which began in November 2010. On 31 January 2011 a guilty verdict resulted in three years in prison. The video could also result in prosecution under a law banning adultery, owing to Cut Tari having been married at the time it was made in 2006. The two women were not charged. On 31 January 2011, Ariel was sentenced to 3½ years behind bars and fined 250 million rupiah. Prosecutors had asked for a five-year sentence. The maximum sentence possible for the charges was 12 years. On 25 April 2011 the Bandung High Court rejected his appeal. On 23 July 2012, after serving two years in prison, Ariel was released early for good behaviour. The scandal became a popular topic. Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring engaged in a Twitter debate after suggesting that the possibility of mistaken identity was similar to the Muslim belief that a lookalike of Jesus of Nazareth had been crucified; he stated that the internet could "destroy" the nation.
Fallout
The Lux brand soap ads featuring Luna Maya were pulled from distribution following the leak of the video allegedly showing her.
