Indonesia postpones law criminalising extra marital sex and same-sex relations
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Indonesia’s president ordered parliament on Friday to delay a vote on a bill aimed at criminalising extra-marital and gay sex, amid protests and criticism from rights groups.
The world’s most populous Muslim-majority country has substantial Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities but has seen a recent trend towards greater religious piety and conservative Islamic activism.
President Joko Widodo said 14 articles of the new criminal code needed further review after input from various groups and ordered his minister “to perfect” the bill before it is deliberated on by parliament. A vote had been due next week.
“I have ordered the law and human rights minister to convey this decision to parliament, to delay the confirmation of the criminal code bill,” Widodo told a televised news conference.
Widodo said that he made the decision after considering public opinion.
As well as banning sex outside marriage and same-sex relations, the revised code includes penalties for insulting the president’s dignity and a four-year jail term for abortion in the absence of a medical emergency or rape.
Andreas Harsono, a senior Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “Indonesia’s draft criminal code is disastrous not only for women and religious and gender minorities, but for all Indonesians.
“Lawmakers should remove all the abusive articles before passing the law.”
Updating Indonesia’s criminal code – which stretches back to the Dutch colonial era – has been debated for decades and appeared set to pass in 2018 before it fizzled.
A parliamentary task force finalised the 628-article bill on September 15.
The renewed push, backed by conservative Islamic groups, was met with a tidal wave of criticism from rights groups and ordinary citizens.
An online petition calling for the bill to be scrapped garnered half a million signatures while hundreds of thousands took to social media to vent their frustration.
“It’s crazy if this bill is passed, crazy! What is this country turning into?” movie director Joko Anwar tweeted to his 1.7 million followers.
The planned revisions had spurred neighbour Australia to update its travel advice, warning citizens of risks they faced from sex outside marriage or homosexual relations in Indonesia if the new rules take effect.
Australians are among the leading visitors to the holiday island of Bali and the country’s Daily Telegraph newspaper carried a lurid headline on Friday: “Bali Sex Ban”.
