What Western Media Doesn’t Tell The World About Indonesian New Criminal Code

Indonesia has been in world's scrutiny for the past few months. After the death of hundreds people at
Kanjuruhan Stadium who captured world's attention, Indonesia hosted G20 which of course became the
talk of the world community as well. Most recently, Indonesia has become the laughing stock of the
world after ratification of the new Criminal Code on (6/12). Unfortunately, there is a major
misunderstanding which is spread by western media in this discourse. What’s that, actually?

The ratification of the new Criminal Code by the House of Representative was, in fact, controversial. The
public questioned many articles that were considered to bring Indonesia to the era of feudalism.
However, this new Criminal Code is feared can increase abuse of power by the state because it is
legitimized by a favorable legal climate.

Articles such as 218-220 which regulate the attack on the honor and dignity of president and vice
president, article 240 concerning insulting state institutions ranging from the parliament to the police
department, article 188 concerning the spread of the ideology of communism, article 594 concerning
punishment for publishing and printing activities, article 411-413 concerning adultery and cohabitation,
as well as many other articles are considered to be detrimental to the climate of democracy, freedom of
speech and social life. However, what has unfortunately reached the ears of the Western media is: Yes,
that's right, sex.

The Western media reduces all these problems to only sexual matters. Just look at some of the
headlines from the international media regarding concerns over these regulations. Mainstream media
such as Reuters, Guardian, CNN, unanimously quoted one main headline: "Indonesia Bans Sex Outside
Marriage as Parliament Passes New Criminal Law". The implications of the news were immediate. It
didn't even take long, the Australian authorities immediately issued a travel warning for its citizens going
to Indonesia due to this misleading news. in fact, this Criminal Code will be applied after 3 years from
the time it was ratified.

Unfortunately, those media failed to critically questioned other articles in the new Criminal Code.
Furthermore, they also failed to use a legal political framework in seeing this event. They failed to
question for what purpose and for whom the new regulation was created.

Articles 411-413 concerning adultery and cohabitation are indeed controversial because these articles
regulate the private space of citizens and are susceptible to over-criminalization. Indigenous and
marginalized people, who often do not have access to state-recognized marriages, are particularly
vulnerable to this article as well. However, there are several other articles that are no less important to
discuss. Some of these articles are potentially to be used as weapons to discipline and punish people
who against the government.

Even though, it does not mean that every international publication only talks about adultery. For
instance, the press publication that released by the United Nations. The United Nations firmly stated
that several articles in the new Criminal Code have indications of being against basic freedoms and
human rights. Several articles are also suspected of containing elements of discrimination against
gender, indigenous people, and even criminalization of journalistic work. There is also a publication from
the German media, DW, which reviews the controversial articles in depth.
In the end, if international media were proactive in overseeing this issue, it would certainly be very
helpful for the Indonesian people to fight and reject this problematic regulation. The power of
international media can put pressure on Indonesian government to reconsider or even revoke articles
that would threaten democratic life in Indonesia.