Largest Muslim country bans sex before marriage

Indonesia passed a law banning sex outside of marriage. Human rights activists say the amendments to the criminal code underline the shift towards fundamentalism.

Indonesia’s parliament approved a law banning sex outside of marriage and made other sweeping changes to the criminal code, reports The Guardian.

The ban, which will apply to both Indonesians and visiting foreigners, also covers cohabitation between unmarried couples. Changes to the criminal code also provide for punishment for insulting the president.

Human rights groups protested the amendments, denouncing the crackdown on civil liberties and the shift towards religious fundamentalism in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Yassonna Laoli told Parliament: “We have done our best to take into account the important issues and the different opinions that have been discussed. However, it is time for us to take the historic decision to amend the penal code and abandon the colonial penal code we inherited.”

The innovations will not be applied immediately, but the transition from the old code to the new one will take no more than three years. The approval came even after business groups warned that it could harm Indonesia’s image as a tourist and investment destination.

Sex outside of marriage would be punishable by a year in prison and cohabitation by six months, but the charges must be based on police reports filed by the spouse, parents or children.

Taufik Basari, an MP from the National Democratic Party, stressed that if tourists visiting Bali, for example, have consensual sex with Indonesian citizens and this is reported to the police by an Indonesian parent or child, the tourist could be arrested.

“I know this will affect tourism, so we need to explain to the public that reports to the police should be limited to what the family considers really important,” the politician said. “As a parliamentarian, I will try to find more restrictions on the implementation of these articles.”

Citra Referandum, director of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute, joined a small protest outside Jakarta’s parliament building on Tuesday. She said that under the code, “women can be punished” for their clothes, adding that she expects “people’s anger will escalate.”

“Indonesian democracy is dead,” she said. “This is reflected in the process, which is not transparent or open, and also in the anti-democratic content of the penal code.”

The code states that advertising contraceptives and religious blasphemy are illegal. The code also states that abortion is a crime, but adds an exception for women with life-threatening illnesses and in cases of rape, provided the fetus is less than 12 weeks old, in line with what is already regulated by the Medical Practices Act 2004.

The Code restores the ban on insulting the incumbent President and Vice President, state institutions and national ideology. Insults against the incumbent must be reported by the president and can result in a prison sentence of up to three years.

Sasmito Madrim, chairman of the Indonesian Independent Journalists Alliance (AJI), argues that the code restricts the “main job” of journalists. He singled out 17 “problem articles” criminalizing, among other things, the “spread of communism”, defamation of the dead, and criticism of public leaders. “The new code could send journalists to jail,” he said.

Human rights groups say the code highlights a growing shift towards fundamentalism in a country long renowned for its religious tolerance, with secularism enshrined in its constitution.

Andreas Harsono, Human Rights Watch senior researcher for Indonesia, said the code could be applied selectively due to its impracticality, referring to “millions” of unmarried couples living together in Indonesia. He said the laws would “allow certain police officers to solicit bribes.”

Protests over controversial criminal law changes have been much smaller than in 2019, when a vote on a previous bill was delayed amid growing public criticism that led to protests by tens of thousands across the country.