Where millions risk jail as Government plan to ban sex outside marriage

…Planned law to affect foreigners, homosexuals

Millions of Indonesians may find themselves at the risk of going to jail as the country is set to pass a new sweeping criminal code that would outlaw sex outside marriage.

According to the Indonesia authorities, the planned law will also be applicable to foreigners and homosexuals as gay marriage is not recognised in Indonesia

The new penal code that is expected to be adopted next week also introduces stiff penalties for insulting president’s dignity.

Lawmakers said 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.

According to a politician from the Prosperous Justice Party, Nasir Djamil, “The state must protect citizens from behaviour that is contrary to the supreme precepts of God’’.

He said leaders of all religions had been consulted on the changes given that Indonesia’s founding ideology was based on belief in God.

Under the proposed laws, unmarried couples who “live together as a husband and wife” could be jailed for six months or face a maximum fine of 10 million rupiah (US$740), which is three months’ salary for many Indonesians.

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.

The inclusion of the new power for village chiefs was warranted because “the victim of adultery is also society”, another lawmaker, Teuku Taufiqulhadi, said.

Meanwhile, rights group are currently protesting the proposed law saying, the proposed criminal code ‘violates the rights of women, religious minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people’.