JAKARTA (Reuters) \u2014 Indonesia is poised to pass a new penal code that criminalizes consensual sex outside marriage and introduces stiff penalties for insulting the president\u2019s dignity \u2014 a move rights groups criticized as an intrusive assault on basic freedoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indonesia is the world\u2019s most populous Muslim majority country and has substantial Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities, but has seen a recent trend towards deeper religious piety and conservative Islamic activism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new criminal code is due to be adopted in the next week after parliament and the government agreed on a final draft on Wednesday, four parliamentarians told Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lawmakers told Reuters that the new penal code, which would replace a Dutch colonial-era set of laws, was a long overdue expression of Indonesian independence and religiosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe state must protect citizens from behavior that is contrary to the supreme precepts of God,\u201d said Nasir Djamil, a politician from the Prosperous Justice Party. He said leaders of all religions had been consulted on the changes given that Indonesia\u2019s founding ideology was based on belief in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the proposed laws, unmarried couples who \u201clive together as a husband and wife\u201d could be jailed for six months or face a maximum fine of 10 million rupiah ($710), which is three months\u2019 salary for many Indonesians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A prosecution can proceed if a village chief, who heads the lowest tier of government, files a complaint with police, and parents or children of the accused do not object. Parents, children and spouses can also lodge a complaint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The inclusion of the new power for village chiefs was warranted because \u201cthe victim of adultery is also society,\u201d said another lawmaker, Teuku Taufiqulhadi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, an NGO, said millions of Indonesians could be ensnared by the new laws. It noted a study indicating that 40 percent of Indonesian adolescents engaged in premarital sexual activity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JAKARTA (Reuters) \u2014 Indonesia is poised to pass a new penal code that criminalizes consensual sex outside marriage and introduces stiff penalties for insulting the president\u2019s dignity \u2014 a move rights groups criticized as an intrusive assault on basic freedoms. Indonesia is the world\u2019s most populous Muslim majority country and has substantial Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities, but has seen… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3591"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3621,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3591\/revisions\/3621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}