Indonesia’s parliament is expected to pass a new criminal code this month that would criminalise sex outside marriage and outlaw insults against the president or state institutions, prompting alarm from human rights campaigners

The deputy justice minister, Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, said in an interview with Reuters that the new criminal code was expected to be passed on 15 December. “We’re proud to have a criminal code that’s in line with Indonesian values,” he said

Bambang Wuryanto, a lawmaker involved in the draft, said the code could be passed by as early as next week

If passed, the code would apply to Indonesian citizens and foreign visitors, and introduce sweeping changes affecting a wide range of civil liberties

Sex outside marriage, which under the code could be reported only by limited parties such as close relatives, could lead to up to a year in prison, while unmarried couples would be banned from living together

Civil society activists have said this would leave same-sex couples, who do not have the right to marry, at additional risk of prosecution[…]
Insulting the president, which under the code could be reported only by the president, would carry a maximum of three years. Insulting state institutions and expressing any views counter to Indonesia’s state ideology would also be forbidden

Abortion would remain illegal except in cases of rape, according to the latest draft seen by Reuters, which was dated 24 November[…]
Savitri raised concerns over a provision that would criminalise “unsanctioned public demonstrations” that cause public unrest, which she said could be used to restrict peaceful assembly[…]
It is feared that a broad article in the code that refers to “living laws” could be used to recognise hundreds of regulations that exist at a local level and that are discriminatory against women, religious minorities and LGBTQ+ people