Indonesia’s new criminal code requires public oversight, minister says

JAKARTA – Indonesia’s new criminal code, which will make crimes of premarital sex and insulting the state when it takes effect on Jan 2, will need public oversight to help prevent abuse of the law, a government minister told Reuters.

The

345-page code was passed in 2022

and replaces a set of laws established during Dutch colonial rule. Its broad definitions drew condemnation from democracy activists concerned it might harm civil liberties and free speech, and put government critics at risk of arrest. 

Law Minister Supratman Andi Agtas said the overhaul of the law was timely, but acknowledged there was a risk of the new powers being abused by the authorities.

“There will be that,” he said over the phone on Dec 30, referring to potential abuses of the code. “We’re not blind. But what’s important is public control. Anything that’s new will not be immediately perfect.”

Decades in the making, the revisions to the criminal code were passed in then President Joko Widodo’s final term. At the time, then US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Mr Widodo to reconsider some of the provisions.

The code was updated to reflect Indonesia’s current legal and cultural norms, citing new policies such as a restorative justice system, Mr Agtas said. “It’s our own legal system... different from other countries,” he added.

‘New colonial set of laws’

The law criminalises sex outside marriage with a punishment of up to one year in jail, but only if a spouse, parent or child of the alleged offender makes a complaint. Currently, only adultery is a crime in Indonesia. 

The reporting requirement has eased tourism industry concerns that foreigners could be caught by the law, said chairman of the Confederation of Indonesia Tourism Association Hariyadi Sukamdani.

Insulting the president or state agencies may result in a prison term of as many as three years under the new law, while people disseminating communism or other ideologies “that are against” Indonesia’s state ideology face up to four years in jail. 

The new code’s definition of “attacking honour or dignity”, which it says is where a reputation or self-worth is damaged, includes actions such as libel or defamation.

Ms Asfinawati, a legal expert who goes by one name, said this week that the definition of insults was among the broad provisions that raised concerns for free speech and activist groups.

“This is a new colonial set of laws, made by our own,” she said, adding the expansive nature of the code did not guarantee that officials would properly apply it.

Mr Agtas said law officers had been briefed about the new code, and along with a

separate criminal procedure code

set to take effect on Jan 2, there were guard rails intended to prevent power abuses. REUTERS