Indonesia’s parliament has approved a new criminal code that criminalizes sex outside marriage and cohabiting with unmarried couples.
According to the world media, under the amended law, the punishment for having sex without marriage is up to one year in prison and the punishment for cohabitation is up to six months.
The punishment for this crime will be imprisonment for one year for both domestic and foreign persons without distinction, however, the action under the law will be possible only after the case filed by the spouse, parents or children of the accused.
The amended law also includes bans on insulting the president or the state and expressing views that are against state ideology. Under the law, only the president will be able to complain about insults, which critics say restrict political and religious freedoms.
The new code will come into effect after the President’s signature, but it will not be implemented immediately as the transition from the old code to the new code will take a maximum of three years.
The new code also maintains abortion as a crime with exceptions for survivors of sexual assault and women facing life-threatening medical conditions.
