The change is part of the new penal code that will come into force in three years; Premarital and extramarital acts can only be reported by family members
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THE Indonesia passed legislation this Tuesday the 6th banning sex outside of marriage. Married couples face a year in prison for noncompliance and six months in prison for unmarried couples living together. The spokesman for the team responsible for the law at the Department of Justice and Human Rights, Albert Aries, defended the changes and assured that these new rules would protect the institution of marriage. The change is part of the penal code, which critics say is a setback for freedoms in the Asian country. Premarital and extramarital sexual activity can only be reported by the spouse, parents or children, which limits the scope of the review. Human rights groups have protested the changes, which they say represent a blow to civil liberties and a turn towards fundamentalism in the world’s most populous Muslimmajority nation. “We’re going backwards. The repressive laws should have been abolished, but this law shows that the arguments made by academics abroad are true, that our democracy is undeniably in decline,” said Usman Hamid, Indonesia director at Amnesty International.
The article has also been criticized by business groups who fear it could affect tourism. This change affects the community LGBTQIA+ in Indonesia, where samesex marriages are not allowed. Another reform passed on Tuesday combines the death penalty, which is normally used in Indonesia for drugrelated offences, with a 10year probation period, after which it can be commuted to life imprisonment if the convict shows exemplary behavior. Spreading ideologies that contradict officials is punishable by up to four years in prison. Hundreds of people protested the law on Monday, holding a yellow banner that read: “Reject consent to revision of the penal code,” which takes three years to come into force.
*With information from AFP