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New Criminal Code sets back civil liberties


Indonesia updated its Criminal Code (KUHP) on Tuesday, when the House of Representatives passed a newly revised version that has ushered the country into a new era in which illiberalism and religious conservatism prevail.

At the House plenary session where the bill was passed, lawmakers and government officials claimed they had softened the provisions widely deemed as draconian, such as those that criminalize insulting a sitting president and outlaw nonmarital sex and cohabitation, as well as articles on the death penalty.

Despite these claims, the new KUHP still retains a number of controversial articles that Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid says are “a setback to the protection of civil liberties in the country, particularly freedom of speech and press freedom”.

Source : New Criminal Code sets back civil liberties - Politics - The Jakarta Post

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