YouTube removes Nazi

A Nazi-themed video performed by Indonesian musicians based on Queen's We Will Rock has been removed by YouTube after to a copyright claim by EMI Music Publishing.

Indonesia Bangkit, or Awakening Indonesia, sparked international outrage when it showed Indonesian rocker Ahmad Dhani in black military uniform and dark sunglasses holding a huge golden garuda bird, Indonesia's national emblem, and other singers performing the song with lyrics supporting Prabowo Subianto, a candidate in the presidential election on 9 July.

Critics said Dhani was wearing a military uniform jacket identical to one often worn by Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS. Indonesian-born singer and songwriter Anggun Cipta Sasmi tweeted that the video had left her 'shocked, disappointed and ashamed'.

She added: 'I pray that Indonesia does not descend into fascism.'

Daniel Ziv, a Bali-based filmmaker, described the video as bringing 'Nazi skinhead imagery to Indonesian politics'.

Brian May, Queen's lead guitarist, has objected to the purloining of the song, tweeting: 'Of course this is completely unauthorised by us.'

The video was uploaded to YouTube on 19 June as a campaign song for Prabowo, a former general who has been accused of abducting pro-democracy activists in 1998. Although it can no longer be seen on YouTube, it can still be viewed at a number of media sites, including Time, the US news magazine.

Dhani, who is partly Jewish, has remained defiant despite the uproar.

'What's the connection between German soldiers and Indonesia?' was his comment to Indonesian media. 'What's the connection between German soldiers and Indonesian musicians? We, the Indonesian people, didn't kill millions of Jewish people, right?'

Dhani's music video for Prabowo was released shortly after pop musicians incliding Oppie Andaresta and rock band Slank, who support Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo - the governor of Jakarta and frontrunner - made their own song and music video, called Two-Finger Salute. With the vote imminent, supporters of both presidential candidates are using social media aimed at young, urban voters.

The latest poll supports most other recent polls showing Jokowi ahead, but with the size of his lead narrowing. Most also show a sizeable percentage of undecided voters. The state-funded Indonesian Institute of Sciences survey of 790 voters from 5-24 June found 43% support for Jokowi, 34% for Prabowo.

A controversial figure, Prabowo was discharged from military service in 1998 over the abduction of pro-democracy activists. He has appeared at campaign rallies on horseback before an honour guard, in keeping with the strongman image he likes to project.

Allan Nairn, an American journalist who has covered Indonesia extensively, posted on his blog a 2001 interview in which Prabowo said that Indonesia needed 'a benign authoritarian regime'. The former general, who made clear his admiration toward Pakistan's then ruling strongman Pervez Musharraf, told Nairn: 'Do I have the guts, am I ready to be called a fascist dictator? Musharraf had the guts.'

Nairn yesterday challenged Prabowo's campaign to carry out its threat to have him arrested because of what he had written about the general.

'General Prabowo, the brother of a billionaire, was the son-in-law of the dictator Suharto, and as a US trainee and protégé was implicated in torture, kidnap and mass murder,' wrote Nairn.