STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. President Jokowi presided over a meeting on Monday to discuss the status of the Criminal Code Bill, which had been approved by the House and the government. The government announced that the provision regulating slander that was initially contained in the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law will be dropped through the Criminal Code Bill.
Law and Human Rights Deputy Minister Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej on Monday said the decision is a positive move towards a better democracy and freedom of expression now be included in the new Criminal Code Bill.
Critics have deplored vague provisions banning non-Pancasila ideologies in the latest draft of the penal code bill, warning of risks of civil liberty curbs and New Order-style repression.
In a meeting with the House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, to discuss the latest draft of the Criminal Code (KUHP) bill on Thursday, the government expanded the long-existing ban on communism and Marxism-Leninism to all “other ideologies that contradict [Indonesia’s founding ideology of] Pancasila”.
The latest draft stipulates that disseminating or promoting communism, Marxism-Leninism and other ideologies is punishable by a maximum sentence of four years in prison, seven years if it is done with an intention to replace Pancasila and 15 years if it leads to public unrest that causes deaths. It allows exceptions for research and scientific purposes.
The Draft Criminal Law Code (RKUHP), which includes regulations on sex and living arrangements outside of marriage, will soon be ratified by the House of Representatives.
The implementation of the new draft will be carried out over a three-year transition period from the old Criminal Code to the new one. Most of these articles also regulate violations of community norms and behaviour.
One controversial article is the law that regulates premarital sex. Once the code is ratified, anyone who is caught partaking in extramarital can face up to one year in prison. In the implementation of this crime, the new article will apply if there is a report from the husband or wife of the perpetrator of adultery or the parents of their children who are not bound by marriage.
The Civil Society Coalition held a demonstration against the ratification of the Draft Criminal Code on Sunday in Jakarta. The crowd asked the House to overturn the passage of the bill by Dec. 15. They believed that the application of the bill will further silence people’s free speech, especially with the application of a number of catchall articles that can be used to criminalize people easily.
