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Provisions in latest KUHP bill may still curb freedoms: CSIS
Researchers and activists are concerned that the restoration of several provisions to the KUHP bill that the Constitutional Court threw out in previous years could be a setback to Indonesia’s already declining democracy.
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A protester holds up a poster that reads “the latest New Order” on Sept. 23, 2019, during a student demonstration at the Senayan legislative compound in Jakarta to protest amendments to the Criminal Code (KUHP). (JP/Donny Fernando)
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esearchers and activists are concerned that several contentious provisions in the draft bill on amendments to the Criminal Code (KUHP) amendments could curb freedoms and set back Indonesia’s democracy.
The government, as represented by the Law and Human Rights Ministry, recently submitted the latest version of the draft bill to the House of Representatives. The ministry claimed it had softened some of the contentious provisions, but critics said they had been left largely intact.
The latest version of the KUHP bill still retains articles that criminalize insulting a sitting president or vice president, although the government has made changes to include an additional condition that “criticisms” made against the President are not a crime if they are made in the “public interest”.
“But the problem now is how law enforcement agencies determine which cases are criticisms and which are insults,” researcher Nicky Fahrizal from the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) told a press briefing on Thursday.
“This can be very subjective and therefore, the provision still has the potential to curb freedom of expression,” he stressed.
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The bill also maintains a provision that insulting the government is punishable by a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
