Sex outside of marriage is becoming a crime in Indonesia, where parliament passed a new penal code criminalizing sexual relations except between married people. The new law, which also applies to foreign residents and tourists, bans cohabitation before marriage, apostasy and provides penalties for those who insult the president or express opinions contrary to national ideology. The crime of blasphemy, which is already planned in Indonesia, is now being punished with a possible five-year prison sentence.
“Everyone agreed to ratify the law,” said MP Bambang Wuryanto, who headed the parliamentary commission tasked with revising the penal code that had been in force since colonial times. “The old code is part of the Dutch heritage,” he added.
Human rights activists and critics have warned that the new penal code will have a “disproportionate impact on women” and further curb human rights and freedoms in the Muslim-majority country of over 270 million people.
Under the new penal code passed by Jakarta’s parliament, people who have extramarital affairs risk up to a year in prison, while couples who live together unmarried can face up to six months in prison. The only ‘compromise’ reached, so to speak, between the Liberals and the Conservatives is that a formal denunciation is required before criminal proceedings can be opened. So far, sex outside of marriage, like homosexuality, has not been forbidden in Indonesia, but rather taboo. An exception is the province of Aceh, where Sharia, Islamic law, applies and extramarital sex was already a crime punishable by a hundred lashes.
Among the other penal code amendments approved by MPs is a three-year prison sentence for anyone who “assaults the dignity of the President or Vice President”. On the other hand, those who insult the government risk up to 18 months in prison or three years in prison if the allegations lead to street protests. In addition, spreading false news becomes a crime punishable by up to six years in prison.