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Fornication provisions in draft criminal code won’t scare off tourists: Govt
Apindo has raised concerns that the article criminalizing sexual intercourse between unmarried people could deter foreign visitors from the country, where the tourism sector is still recovering from the impacts of the pandemic.
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University students protest against the revision of the Criminal Code (KUHP) in front of the House of Representatives compound, on Monday, Sept. 23, 2019. (JP/Donny Fernando)
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he government has dismissed recent concerns aired by a business organization that a controversial provision on fornication in the Draft Criminal Code Bill (RKUHP) could criminalize unmarried couples staying in the same hotel room while on holiday and so scare off tourists, especially foreign visitors.
The draft bill refers to fornication (perzinaan) as “having [sexual] intercourse with a person who is not their husband or wife”.
At a press conference last week, Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani said he feared that the provision could disrupt the country’s tourism industry, particularly the hospitality sector.
"It can be understood that the criminal provision on fornication is related to moral behavior, however, that activity belongs in the private sphere and should not be regulated by law or considered a crime," Hariyadi told the press on Thursday, as quoted by Antaranews.com.
In response, the government said the provision on fornication, as well as a related provision on nonmarital cohabitation, would instead protect people from arbitrary raids, arguing that the legal process could start only if a parent, child or spouse of the individuals engaging in such activities submitted a formal complaint to a law enforcement agency.
"Third parties or people unrelated to the individual allegedly committing the crime of fornication or [nonmarital] cohabitation cannot file a complaint to the authorities, and they cannot resort to vigilante actions," Albert Aris, a spokesperson for the bill’s drafting team, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
The latest version of the draft bill, submitted to the House of Representatives in July, maintains articles that carry punishments of one-year imprisonment for fornication and six months for nonmarital cohabitation, disregarding criticism from activists who said that criminalizing the individual acts violated the right to privacy.
