Controversial law creates question and confusion for tourists

Let’s clarify quickly, why this is not necessary

After more than fifty years of effort to update the penal code (RKUHP) that Indonesia inherited from the Dutch when it won independence in 1949, the Indonesian parliament has finally passed a new version. This shift marks a significant break with Indonesia’s colonial past and way of life.

But the revised code, which could take up to three years before it’s fully adopted, introduces several controversial statutes, both inside and outside the country.

The criminalization of extramarital sex and cohabitation drew immediate international media attention.
Under the amended code, having sex with someone who is not your spouse is punishable by up to a year in prison, while living together with someone who is not your spouse is punishable by a six-month jail term.

TOURIST SHOULD NOT BE WORRIED ABOUT BEING JAILED FOR COITUS OUTSIDE MARRIAGE OR COHABITATION WITH THE PERSON(s) THEY ARE NOT MARRIED TO WHILE IN INDONESIA. 

Because, as is always the case, the devil is in the details. Something that, sadly, clickbait-driven and irresponsible media outlets all over the world choose to ignore.

For starters, the revised criminal code can take another three years after it is passed, before going into effect.

Second, only family members (parents, children, and spouses) are in a position to report such a “crime,” and the act must have a negative impact on them.

If you put this in the context of a tourist visiting Bali, even if this law remains unchanged, none of this is likely to happen. Not impossible, but extremely unlikely.

Nothing is Final Yet

We anticipate that the criminal code revision will take two, if not three, years to implement, and that it will face numerous legal challenges until then. With regard to the “sex outside marriage” law, there will almost certainly be debates between the government, tourism stakeholders, and Indonesian citizens about how they will respond to the law. Indonesia still has time to calibrate. And once again, no one, not even unmarried couples, should fear about being jailed on Bali.

Indonesia is evolving and growing at a fast pace, and the country will have to decide how it wants to shape its future in the context of a relatively young democracy. A country with 17,000 islands, 1300 ethnic groups, and 700 languages will inevitably face challenges. Manado is not Bali, nor is Jakarta Aceh.

1. Response & Clarification from the Head of Bali Tourism Authority

(in Bahasa Indonesia with English Subtitles in youtube)

2. Albert Aries, spokesman gives clarification on adultery article of new criminal code

“The article on adultery in the new Criminal Code that will take effect 3 years later is the Absolute Complaint Offense. This means that only husband or wife (for those who are married) or parents or children (for those who are not married) can make complaints. Other parties cannot report it, or even “play judge” So there will be no legal process without complaints from the rightful party, who is directly harmed.”

We need to provide this clarification following the rise in misleading and fundamentally erroneous news regarding the article on adultery which is considered to have a negative impact in the tourism and investment sector in Indonesia.

In fact, there are no substantive changes related to this article when compared to Article 284 of the old Criminal Code. The difference lies only in the addition of parties who have the right to complain and even if proven true, there are alternative sanctions of no more than 10 million Rupiah.

“So there’s really nothing to worry about. If all this time tourists and investors can be comfortable in Indonesia, then this condition will not change either.”

It is proper for Indonesia to pay respect to Indonesian marital values through this article, as long as this regulation does not violate the private space of the public, including visiting tourists and investors.

In addition to the offense of complaint, the Criminal Code has never required the party entitled to complain to use that right (Because a complaint cannot be separated, meaning that it is impossible for a complaint to only one of the perpetrators to be processed, the decision to make a complaint will also be correct and really considered by those who have the right to complain. The new Criminal Code has also never provided additional administrative requirements for business actors in the tourism sector to ask anyone about their marital status.

Investors and foreign tourists don’t have to worry about investing and traveling in Indonesia, because people’s privacy is still guaranteed by law, of course without reducing respect for Indonesian values, so please come and invest in remarkable Indonesia!

3. The Minister of Law and Human Rights, Yasonna Laoly, responded to the foreign media’s backlash:

“What has recently developed is a misinterpretation… for example regarding extramarital sex. It seems that the distortion is going too far. I need to convey that extramarital sex relations are a complaint offense,”

He said it is impossible for someone to be arrested and prosecuted under the adultery article if there is no report. Yasonna also emphasized that reports could only be done from close relatives such as spouses, children, parents.

“It’s impossible for the police to arrest unless there is a complaint. That’s from the closest family, children, husband, wife. … private matters are not our interference and at the same time we have to maintain our Indonesian values,” he said.

Clickbait and Negative News are part of the Problem

Once again, the media response illustrates how many news outlets purposefully oversimplify or exaggerate in order to gain clicks and increase their media reach, rather than to inform properly and neutrally. This sloppy and irresponsible journalism, which is especially popular in Bali, has far-reaching consequences, not only confusing millions of tourists but also harming businesses and families in real life.

In response to headlines like this, both small family businesses and international hotel chains have reported mass cancellations:

“Aussie tourists in Bali could be jailed for having SEX outside marriage under strict new law ‘in line with Indonesian values”

“Sex outside of Marriage can land you in Jail in Bali”

Needless to say, that such headlines are simply misleading.

Bali is slowly recovering from Covid, which lasted two years and caused tens of thousands of families to lose their entire livelihood, barely surviving on their small savings and returning to their villages. News like this, with the intent of scaring people and deliberately leaving out details and using misleading headlines, is not helping to say the least. And they also do not contribute anything of value to the very important debate that needs to happen regarding these revisions.

One can only hope that these “journalists” behind their desks, on the quest for clicks, will one day realize that their actions have real consequences.