PKS seeks porn bill as 'Ramadan present'

Abdul Khalik ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 09/12/2008 10:54 AM  |  Headlines

A power play within the House of Representatives has ensured the legislative body will pass the pornography bill, which critics deem a threat to citizens' privacy and the country's pluralism.

Although the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) have rejected the bill and ceased discussing it, the debate on a draft of the bill continues.

Out of the public spotlight, the House working committee deliberating the bill is set to table the final draft to the House's plenary session in the next few weeks, with many contentious articles left unchanged.

"We are boycotting the process because we can't have a dialogue on articles we disagree with. They just pushed for a vote to settle every contentious matter. And they're moving forward without us," PDI-P lawmaker Eva K. Sundari said.

Golkar politician Harry Azhar Azis said passage of the bill seemed inevitable, given the unwillingness of groups supporting it to seek a compromise.

"Unless there are widespread rallies against the bill across the country, the constellation will not change," he added.

Eva criticized the bill for criminalizing victims of pornography and threatening the country's pluralism, adding the proposed law was based purely on morality rather than legality.

Muslim scholar Siti Musdah Mulia also slammed the bill for failing to distinguish children from adults, models from producers and distributors or private domains from public spaces.

The bill duplicates other laws regulating the same issues, including the criminal code, the child protection law and the cyber law, she said.

Both Eva and Musdah agreed the draft contained a vague definition of pornography.

According to the bill, pornography encompasses activities such as artwork or poetry -- expressions capable of distinct interpretations by different groups or individuals.

"Pornography is any man-made work that includes sexual materials in the form of drawings, sketches, illustrations, photographs, text, sound, moving pictures, animation, cartoons, poetry, conversations or any other form of communicative message," reads Article 1 of the bill, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post.

"It can also be shown through the media to the public; it can arouse lust and lead to the violation of normative values within society; and it can cause the development of pornographic acts within society."

According to some observers, Articles 9 and 11 of the bill -- which pertain to actors and models -- criminalize victims of pornography while Article 21 allows any group or individual in society to take part in preventive measures, opening the way for hard-liners to take the law into their own hands and commit violence against others.

Rights activist Hendardi said those in support of the bill seemed to be using the momentum provided by Ramadan and the upcoming election to push for its passage.

By contrast, Mahfudz Siddiq, chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction in the House, said Indonesia was in urgent need of a pornography law due to widespread moral decadence.

"It will be a gift for Ramadan," he said.

The PKS and other Muslim organizations, such as the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI), are staunch supporters of the pornography bill.

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