[ジャカルタ ６日 ロイター] – The Indonesian parliament on Thursday passed a bill to amend the penal code to impose up to a year in prison for pre-marital and extra-marital affairs. Concerns have been raised that the amendment will restrict civil liberties.
The change in law applies to Indonesians and foreigners, and also prohibits unmarried couples from living together. All parties in parliament voted in favour, although business groups warned that foreign tourists and investment would be adversely affected.
However, it will not come into force for three years in order to prepare revised law enforcement regulations.
Extramarital sex is already banned in Indonesia, but premarital sex is not.
The law change also banned black magic, insulting the president and state institutions, spreading opinions contrary to state ideology, and unreported protests.
Indonesia’s penal code was enacted during the colonial era, and the government aimed to pass a bill to change the penal code through parliament in 2019, but was blocked by protests across the country.
An executive at an Indonesian tourism industry group said it was “absolutely dampening” the economy and tourism as they began to recover from the coronavirus crisis.
US Ambassador to Indonesia Sung Kim said foreign investment, tourism and travel to Indonesia could decline.
A spokesman for Indonesia’s Ministry of Justice said that only parents, spouses and children could report crimes, and that the change would have a limited effect.
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