I wonder why.
SEPT 30, 2003
Jakarta looks at making pre-marital sex a crime
JAKARTA - Sex before marriage, living together outside of wedlock
and oral and homosexual sex could soon be crimes in the world's
most populous Muslim nation, if the Indonesian Justice Ministry has
its way.
Under proposed amendments to the country's criminal code, a couple
found guilty of cohabitation could be jailed for up to two years. A
man who makes a woman pregnant but refuses to marry her could spend
a maximum of five years in prison.
The draft changes would also ban witchcraft and extramarital
sex.
The move is seen as an attempt by the government to assuage Muslim
groups and the revisions cover acts not currently categorised as
crimes but considered morally unacceptable.
Justice Ministry official Abdul Gani Abdullah told Reuters: 'If
society chooses not to do anything and has no objection to any
cohabitation, for example, then it is not a crime.'
He said people would need to lodge complaints before the
authorities reacted.
Muslim leaders, including experts in syariah law, had been
consulted over the draft revisions, he added.
Sodomy and oral sex would be punishable by between three and 12
years in jail and homosexual sex would result in jail terms of
between one and seven years. A 'witch doctor' or his client found
guilty of using black magic to hurt other people could get up to
five years' jail.
AFP quoted another official as saying that ministry experts were
still debating ways to obtain evidence.
Two Islamic political parties in Parliament - the United
Development Party and the Crescent Star Party - have backed
provinces in their call for syariah law to be implemented.
The Muslim groups see the current criminal code as an 18th century
product of the Dutch colonial government and unsuitable for
Indonesian culture.
Copyright @ 2003 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
