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Controversial Criminal Code revision made legislative priority again
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Students protest against a planned revisions of the Criminal Code and the Corruption Eradication Commission Law in front of the House of Representatives building in Senayan, Jakarta, on Sept. 24, marking the biggest student movement since 1998. JP/Anggie Angela (JP/Anggie Angela)
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espite massive student protests over controversial articles in a proposed amendment of the Criminal Code, the government and the House of Representatives have agreed to include the draft in the National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) for next year.
During a meeting on Thursday, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly and the House’s Legislation Body (Baleg) agreed on a list of 50 bills to be prioritized for deliberation next year. The list includes four bills President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had sought to delay only weeks ago, just before the current House members commenced their term in office for the 2019-2024 period, namely the Criminal Code (KUHP) revision, the correctional procedures bill, the land bill and the mining bill.
The latest draft of the KUHP revision, a copy of which was seen by The Jakarta Post, still includes 14 controversial articles that had sparked the protests, including articles to restore a ban on insulting the President that had been repealed by the Constitutional Court, as well as stipulations on morality that criminalize, among other things, consensual sex by unmarried people, cohabitation and the promotion of contraception.
A member of House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, Habiburokhman, said his commission, which would handle the bill’s deliberation, had reached no agreement with the government on the contentious articles that had caused the widespread protests in September.
“As a member of Commission III, I am ready to discuss the controversial articles, but personally I think we should not spend energy deliberating articles that are disputed,” said the Gerindra Party lawmaker.
Jokowi faced a string of student protests nationwide when he decided to pass a controversial revision of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law, followed by the hasty deliberation of four other bills opposed by many people, including the KUHP bill.
At least five people were killed in the protests, prompting the President to call on lawmakers to halt the deliberation of the disputed bills and drop the disputed articles in the KUHP bill, meeting one of the demands of the students.
