New code, which will apply to Indonesians and foreigners alike, also prohibits cohabitation between unmarried couples
\n JAKARTA
\nIndonesia\u2019s parliament approved a new criminal code on Tuesday that bans sex outside marriage with a punishment of up to one year in jail, despite worries the laws may scare away tourists from its tropical shores and harm investment.
\nThe new code, which will apply to Indonesians and foreigners alike, also prohibit cohabitation between unmarried couples. It will also ban insulting the president or state institutions, spreading views counter to the state ideology, and staging protests without notification.
\nThe laws were passed with support from all political parties. However, the code will not come into effect for three years to allow for implementing regulations to be drafted.
\nCurrently, Indonesia bans adultery but not premarital sex.
\nMaulana Yusran, deputy chief of Indonesia\u2019s tourism industry board, said the new code was \u201ctotally counter-productive\u201d at a time when the economy and tourism were starting to recover from the pandemic. \u201cWe deeply regret the government have closed their eyes. We have already expressed our concern to the ministry of tourism about how harmful this law is,\u201d he said.
\nForeign arrivals in the holiday destination of Bali are expected to reach pre-pandemic levels of six million by 2025, the tourism association has said previously, as the island recovers from the impacts of Covid-19.
\nIndonesia is also trying to attract more so-called \u201cdigital nomads\u201d to its tropical shores by offering a more flexible visa.
\nSpeaking at an investment summit, US Ambassador to Indonesia Sung Kim said the news could result in less foreign investment, tourism and travel to the Southeast Asian nation. \u201cCriminalising the personal decisions of individuals would loom large within the decision matrix of many companies determining whether to invest in Indonesia,\u201d he said.
\nAlbert Aries, a spokesperson for Indonesia\u2019s justice ministry, said the new laws regulating morality were limited by who could report them, such as a parent, spouse or child of suspected offenders.
\n\u201cThe aim is to protect the institution of marriage and Indonesian values, while at the same time being able to protect the privacy of the community and also negate the rights of the public or other third parties to report this matter or \u2018playing judge\u2019 on behalf of morality,\u201d he said.
\nThese laws are part of a raft of legal changes that critics say undermine civil liberties in the world\u2019s third-largest democracy. Other laws include bans on black magic.
\n\u2018A death for Indonesia\u2019s democracy\u2019
\nEditorials in national newspapers decried the new laws, with daily newspaper Koran Tempo saying the code has \u201cauthoritarian\u201d tones, while the Jakarta Post said it had \u201cgrave concerns\u201d about their application.
\nDecades in the making, legislators hailed the passage of the criminal code as much needed overhaul of a colonial vestige.
\n\u201cThe old code belongs to Dutch heritage … and is no longer relevant now,\u201d Bambang Wuryanto, head of the parliamentary commission in charge of revising the code told lawmakers.
\nOpponents of the bill have highlighted articles they say will curb free speech and represent a \u201chuge setback\u201d in ensuring the retention of democratic freedoms after the fall of authoritarian leader Suharto in 1998.
\n\u201cThis is not only a setback but a death for Indonesia\u2019s democracy,\u201d said Citra Referandum, a lawyer from Indonesia\u2019s Legal Aid Institute. \u201cThe process has not been democratic at all.\u201d
\nResponding to the criticism, Indonesia\u2019s Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly told parliament: \u201cIt\u2019s not easy for a multicultural and multi-ethnic country to make a criminal code that can accommodate all interests.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New code, which will apply to Indonesians and foreigners alike, also prohibits cohabitation between unmarried couples JAKARTA Indonesia\u2019s parliament approved a new criminal code on Tuesday that bans sex outside marriage with a punishment of up to one year in jail, despite worries the laws may scare away tourists from its tropical shores and harm […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299716,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-299687","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n