Indonesia's new penal code takes effect, marking historic break with colonial law
PBS••world
Key Points:
- Indonesia has begun enforcing its new penal code, replacing the Dutch-era criminal law that had been in place for over 80 years, marking a significant shift toward a legal system rooted in Indonesian culture.
- The new code criminalizes sex outside marriage, reinstates penalties for insulting the president and state institutions, and expands blasphemy laws, raising concerns from human rights groups about potential impacts on privacy and freedom of expression.
- The government introduced safeguards such as requiring complaints from close relatives for adultery cases and guidelines to differentiate criticism from criminal insult, though critics remain wary of possible abuses.
- The revised code retains the death penalty but introduces a probationary period allowing for sentence commutation based on good behavior, and expands non-cust
