Indonesia lawmakers passed a bill outlawing extramarital sex between nationals and visitors; those found guilty face a year in prison.
Charges must be based on police reports lodged by a spouse, parents, or children.
The transition from the old code to the new code takes up to three years. The code does not take effect right away. The decision comes despite warnings from industry organizations that it would damage Indonesia’s reputation as a tourist and investment destination.
Having consensual sex with an Indonesian native while visiting Bali, for example, and having it reported to police by the Indonesian’s parent or child, according to NasDem Party lawmaker Taufik Basari, might result in the tourist’s detention.
Yasonna Laoly, the minister of law and human rights, told parliament:
“We have tried our best to accommodate the important issues and different opinions which were debated. However, it is time for us to make a historical decision on the penal code amendment and to leave the colonial criminal code we inherited behind.”
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The changes also provide punishments for insulting the president.
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It reinstates the prohibition from disparaging the vice president, state institutions, and national ideology while they are still in office. Insults to a president who is in office must be reported by the president and are punishable by up to three years in prison.
The rule, according to Sasmito Madrim, the chair of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia, limited reporting’s “fundamental work.” He cited 17 “problematic articles” that, among other things, made “spreading communism,” “defaming the deceased,” and “critiquing public officials” illegal.
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