JAKARTA, Indonesia – A group of Muslims protesting Playboy's decision to launch an Indonesian edition of the magazine clashed with police Wednesday and stoned the company's editorial offices, witnesses said.
No one was injured in the protest involving around 150 members of the Islamic Defenders' Front, a small group with a history of attacking bars and nightclubs, as well as Western embassies.
The protesters smashed several windows and the door and gate at the magazine's offices in south Jakarta, witnesses said. Several were seen scuffling with police officers guarding the building.
Playboy's first local edition in a Muslim country went on sale Friday.
It features no nudity, and its photos of women in undergarments are less risque than in other magazines already for sale in the country.
But many Islamic politicians and preachers have condemned the publication, with most saying that the name of the magazine itself was grounds for the government to ban it.
The magazine is selling well, according to vendors, and threatened mass protests against it have failed to materialize.
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