Global Courant
Indonesia is expected to make another significant reform of its criminal code, which will punish the sexual promiscuity of women and sex outside marriage.
ABC News reports that in the Muslim-majority Asian archipelago, people found guilty of having sex outside of marriage will face up to a year in prison.
But the officials add that the complaint with the authorities can only be raised by close relatives of the person such as spouses, sons or parents, for reasons of avoiding abuses for using accusations of personal grudges.
The new legislation bans cohabitation for unmarried couples, with the rule taking effect across all of Indonesia’s 17,000 islands.
This means that all those within the country’s borders must obey the orders, whether residents or not.
Consequently, the rules also apply to tourists and world-renowned resorts such as the island of Bali.
The legislation comes at a time when the country is suffering from a drop in tourism revenue and this is not expected to contribute to the good, foreign media write.
The law has been introduced in the country since 2019 and has caused protests among its critics.
After the law is passed, it will be phased in over three years, allowing time for additional regulation to be drafted, but many disagree.
“The state cannot become a manager of morality. The government is not a judge between conservative and liberal Indonesians,” said a resident interviewed by the Reuters network.
But in addition to the rules on sex, marriage and morality, the law will punish all those who behave against the rules of the Pancasila code.
Pancasila is called the secular country’s old national ideology and lists five main guidelines that Indonesians “should strive for in life.”
The new code will go through parliament in the autumn and is expected to usher in a new conservative Indonesia, in all its provinces.
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