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Wetin Indonesia law wey ban sex outside marriage mean for citizens and foreigners

Australian Tourists Some tourists

Tue, 6 Dec 2022 Source: BBC

Indonesia parliament don approve one new criminal code wey go make sex outside of marriage punishable by up to one year in prison.

Di new criminal code no go take effect for now until three years time.

According to di code, pesin partner or parents fit report dem for di offence of having sex outside of marriage.

Adultery go also be offence wey dem fit jail pesin wey commit am.

Di code - wey go dey apply to both Indonesians and foreigners - include plenti "morality" laws wey make am illegal for unmarried couples to live togeda and have sex.

Rights groups say pipo wey dis code go affect well-well na women, LGBT pipo and ethnic minorities for di kontri.

Protesters stage one small rally outside di parliament for Jakarta dis week.

Wetin also dey for di new criminal code?

Di new criminal code also include ban on insulting di president and speaking out against state ideology.

So e go dey illegal for pipo to insult di president or express opinions against di national ideology.

However, legislators tok say dem don add defences for free speech and protests wey pipo dey do sake of "public interest".

Still, Human Rights Watch on Tuesday tok say di new code provisions na "disaster" for human rights.

Di rights group Asia Director Elaine Pearson tell BBC say dis na "big setback for a kontri wey don try to portray demsef as modern Muslim democracy."

Di group researcher wey dey based in Jakarta, Andreas Harsano, tok say millions of couples dey for Indonesia without marriage certificates

"Especially among Indigenous pipo or Muslims for rural areas" wey don bin marry through specific religious ceremonies.

"Dat mean say dis pipo go dey classified as breaking di law as living togeda fit lead to punishment of up to six months in prison," e tell di BBC.

E add say research from Gulf states, wia similar laws dey govern sex and relationships, show say dem dey punish and target women through dis kain morality laws more dan men.

According to Rights activists, dem say di new code suppress political expression and clamp down on religious freedom.

Di kontri now get six blasphemy laws for di code, including apostasy - renouncing a religion.

For di first time since di kontri get independence, Indonesia go make am illegal to persuade someone to be non-believer.

Indonesia na home to several religions but di majority of dia 267 million pipo na Muslim.

Since di kontri democratic transition for 1998, dem dey follow one creed wey dey known as Pancasila, wey no give preference to any faith but no also accept atheism.

However, local law for many areas of di kontri dey informed by religious values.

Some parts of Indonesia already get strict religion-based laws on sex and relationships.

Di province of Aceh dey enforce strict Islamic law and don punish pipo for gambling, drinking alcohol and meeting members of di opposite sex.

Many Islamic civil groups for Indonesia don bin dey push for more influence to shape public policy in recent years.

Lawmakers on Tuesday praise di achievement of passing new criminal code, one wey dem neva thoroughly revise since Indonesia become independent from Dutch rule.

Dem suppose pass one former draft of di code for 2019 but e cause nationwide protests with tens of thousands of pipo wey take part in demonstrations.

Many, including students, enta streets and clashes happun with police for di capital Jakarta.

Indonesia no be di only kontri wey don pass dis kain law.

Kontries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia get wetin dem call Zina laws wey criminalize unmarried sex.

Source: BBC