Prison for adulterers and communists: Indonesia’s new penal code is full of “surprises”

The Indonesian parliament approved a long-awaited and controversial reform from his Penal Code which criminalizes extramarital sex and applies to both nationals and foreign visitors. A parliamentary committee finalized the proposal in November and on Tuesday it was approved unanimously by the House.

The new penal code must now be signed by the president, said Deputy Minister for Law and Human Rights, Edward Hiariej. The Penal Code will not be enforced immediately, although it has been fixed a maximum of three years for the transition from the old frame to the new one.

“I have many regulations of application that must be resolved, so it is impossible in one year, but remember that the maximum (transitional period) is three years”, clarified Hiariej.

What does the new code say?

Includes a copy of the new Criminal Code seen by The Associated Press various articles reviewed that turn sex outside of marriage into an offense punishable by one year’s imprisonment and cohabitation with six months, although the adultery allegations must be based on police reports filed by spouses, parents or children of the defendant.

It also designates the contraceptive promotion and religious profanity as illegal e restore the veto insult a sitting president or vice president, state institutions, and national ideology. The insults to the president in office must be denounced by the president and can involve up to three years in prison.

Hiariej said the government offered “the strictest possible explanation that distinguishes between insults and criticisms”.

The text supports it the abortion it’s a crimealthough it adds exceptions for women with life-threatening health problems and for rape, provided the fetus is less than 12 weeks oldin line with the provisions of its Medical Practice Act 2004.

Rights groups have criticized many of the reforms as too broad or vague, warning that rushing their implementation could penalize normal business and threaten freedom of expression and right to privacy.

The LGTBQ community celebrates

However, some activists celebrated it as a victory for the LGTBQ minority from the country. In a heated deliberation session, lawmakers finally agreed delete an item proposed by Islamic groups that they would homosexual sex outlawed.

Code will keep the capital punishment in the justice system despite calls by the National Human Rights Commission and other groups to abolish the death penalty, as dozens of countries have done.

Reform had been stalled for decades as the country’s lawmakers Muslim majority The world’s most populous peoples were grappling with how to adapt their native culture and norms to the penal code, a legacy of Dutch colonial rule.

An earlier reform moved closer to being approved in 2019, but President Joko Widodo has urged lawmakers to delay the vote amid mounting public criticism, which has led to nationwide protests in which tens of thousands have descended on square.

Critics have decried a lack of transparency in the law-drafting process and have claimed that some articles They discriminated against minorities.

Widodo directed Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly to get feedback from various communities as lawmakers debated the items.

The new penal code indicates that capital punishment will include a conditional period. This implies that the judge cannot automatically impose a death sentence. If the inmate has good behavior for a period of 10 years, then the sentence it changed to life imprisonment or 20 years in prison.

blasphemy and communism

the code too expands the current blasphemy law and retains the five-year prison sentence for the deviations of the six religions recognized in Indonesia: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

Citizens can face a sentence of up to 10 years for association with organizations that follow a Marxist-Leninist ideology and up to four years for promote communism.

Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday that laws criminalizing criticism of public leaders are contrary to international law and that the fact that some forms of expression are considered insults is not enough to justify restrictions or sanctions.

“The danger with oppressive laws isn’t that they’re applied broadly, it’s that they offer an avenue for selective enforcement,” said Andreas Harsono, a researcher with the team in Indonesia.

Hotels fear losing customers

Many hotels, for example in tourist areas such as Bali and the Jakarta metropolitan areawill risk losing visitorsHe added.

“These laws allow the police to demand bribesthey allow officials to jail political enemies, for example with the blasphemy law”, he explained.

Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country and third largest democracy, is a democratic island in part of Southeast Asia full of authoritarian governments.

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