JAKARTA, April 20 (Xinhua By Xia Lin ) -- Playboy Indonesia has found itself in troubled water as its maiden issue triggered off protests nationwide in the past two weeks and the police here on Thursday summoned its editor-in-chief Erwin Arnada to investigate its publication in the largest Muslim country of the world.

    The summons of Arnada and several other editors was part of the police effort to know whether or not there was criminal offence particularly violation of ethical norms in the magazine, spokesman of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Chief Commissioner I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said.

    The police would also summon expert witnesses in the fields of crime, language and culture together with Islamic leaders in relation with the magazine, he added.

    Chief of Jakarta Metropolitan Police Insp. Gen. Firman Gani had earlier proposed that the magazine be banned from circulating in the capital on the grounds certain groups of people were opposed to it.

    Meanwhile, Arnada certified that the summons were in response to charges by Islamic groups that the magazine violated articles of the criminal code, which carry a maximum penalty of 16 months in jail.

    Previously, police and government ministers had said the country had no laws to ban the magazine, the first edition of which featured no nudity and was less risky than other local and international magazines already for sale in Indonesia.

    Despite of its toned-down style to meet this Muslim country's moral standard, protests had jolted some 10 provinces, with newsstands searched and magazines burned, since its first edition hit the streets on April 7.

    Dozens of Islam Defenders Front members even stormed the magazine's office in South Jakarta on Wednesday, causing material damage, injuring two police officers and finally forcing the staff to evacuate the building.

    Protests have become so wild and widespread that media distributors and newsstands were afraid to carry Playboy. In Jakarta, many newsstands declined to stock the magazine. In Surabaya distributors refused a shipment of some 4,000 copies of the magazine's first edition, out of fear of attracting the attention of fundamentalist groups.

    Most critics insisted that the name of the magazine alone was grounds for the government to ban it, for it stood for eroticism and luxurious life style of the United States, the magazine's originating country.

    "I keep telling them to please review my magazine and compare it with ... adult men's lifestyle magazines already in Indonesia,"Arnada said. "But they keep telling me to change the name Playboy, not the content. It's ridiculous."

    In another development, groups opposed to the magazine have started legal procedure to make sure a second edition never sees the light.

    On Monday, the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) filed a complaint with the police accusing the magazine of promoting obscenity among the young.

    MMI spokesperson Fauzan Al Anshari said that Playboy Indonesia had failed to ensure the magazine was purchased only by adult readers.

    "The fact that even small children were able to get hold of the magazine shows that Playboy did not make good on its intention (tosell only to adults)," said Anshari, adding that the magazine was in violation of the 2002 law on child protection.

    Though Playboy Indonesia faces bleak future upon violent protests and police investigation, the editorial staff is still busily preparing what they hope will be the magazine's second edition.

    After being evicted from their office, the staff is putting together the second edition with the help of information technology.

    "We don't have an office to work from, but we are able to get our work done with the help of information technology," Playboy Indonesia deputy chief editor Avian Arifin once told local media.

    However, one editorial staff member at the magazine said that Playboy Indonesia is still waiting for the situation to calm before making a decision on whether to go ahead with a second edition.

    "Let's wait and see how the situation unfolds," said Avianto Nugroho, spokesman for the local publisher of the magazine Velvet Silver Media. Enditem