Tens of thousands of protesters had the Indonesian government back down on a similar project in 2019. Three years later, the situation is different. The Indonesian Parliament approved, Tuesday, December 6, a text criminalizing sex outside marriage and concubinage. This reform of the Penal Code, which dates from the Dutch colonial era, was adopted by a majority of the deputies. The text still needs to be signed by the president and will come into force in three years. It makes sex outside marriage punishable by one year in prison, and the cohabitation of unmarried couples by six months in prison.
“We have done our best to take into account the important issues and the different opinions that have been discussed”Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly told parliament. “However, it is time for us to take a historic decision on the amendment of the Penal Code, and to leave behind us the colonial Penal Code which we inherited” when the country gained independence in 1949, he added.
The reform has been criticized by human rights defenders. “The adoption of the draft law on the Penal Code is a clear step backwards in the protection of civil rights (…) in particular freedom of expression and freedom of the press”, said Usman Hamid, director of Amnesty International in Indonesia. The new amendments also underscore a growing slide towards fundamentalism, in a country long hailed for its tolerance and which recognizes five official religions alongside majority Islam.