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Criminalizing extramarital, LGBT sex would overwhelm police, courts: Expert
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Legal expert from Bandung-based Padjadjaran University Alip Latipulhayat (right), University of Indonesia constitutional law expert Hamid Chalid (center) and National Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) chairman Asrorun Niam (left) give their testimonies at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday. (Antara Photo/Yudhi Mahatma)
C
riminalizing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and extramarital relations represents an excessive intrusion into people’s private lives and would incriminate too many people, Institute for Criminal Justice Reform executive director Supriyadi Widodo Eddyono said on Friday.
Supriyadi made the statement in response to a testimony given by an expert at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday in support of a motion that would criminalize extramarital and homosexual sex.
“If the court grants the motion, the government will go too far in controlling the private acts of its own citizens,” Supriyadi told The Jakarta Post.
The petitioners, a professor from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), Euis Sunarti, and activists from the Family Love Alliance say they are seeking a revision of three articles in the Criminal Code (KUHP) for the sake of the nation’s morality.
The disputed articles currently only prescribe punishment for adultery and adults sodomizing underage children.
Family Love Alliance chairman Rita Hendrawaty Soebagio recently said sex outside marriage between single people and sodomy committed by adults should also be considered criminal acts. She said the revision would be able to prevent the occurrence of such acts that are not line with the country’s norms.
Supriyadi argued that prosecutors would be overwhelmed as they would also have to handle cases involving sexual activity committed by adults that should be considered non-criminal acts and relatively trivial problems.
He added that the increased number of raids and people entering the criminal justice system would overwhelm the country’s law enforcement and judicial institutions. (wnd/bbn)
