Bali’s governor Wayan Koster has insisted that visitors to the popular tourist getaway “would not need to worry” about finding themselves in breach of the new so-called sex “morality” laws.
Enacted as part of the changes to Indonesia’s penal code, hailing back to its past as a Dutch colony, the newly ratified legislation now criminalizes cohabitation outside marriage, with the law applying to both citizens and foreigners visiting the country. The law sets a 12-month jail term for adultery or "unmarried" sex.
However, the governor of the Indonesian province noted that those who “visit or live in Bali would not need to worry with regard to the entry into force of the Indonesian Criminal Code” in three years time. Individuals could only be prosecuted in accordance with the laws if there was a complaint lodged by a parent, spouse or child, he said.
Provisions in the criminal code on the issue of cohabitation outside marriage had been altered from an earlier, stricter version to “provide a better guarantee of everyone’s privacy and comfortableness,” the governor said.
Bali’s government would ensure “there will be no checking on marital status upon check-in at any tourism accommodation, such as hotels, villas, apartments, guest houses, lodges and spas,” Wayan said.
Wayan slammed what he dismissed as “hoax” reports of flight cancellations and dwindling hotel room bookings over the issue, insisting that travel agents’ data testified otherwise.
The predominately Hindu island of Bali has long been the throbbing heart of Indonesia's tourism industry. Maulana Yusran, deputy chief of Indonesia’s tourism industry board, earlier pronounced the newly-revised criminal code to be “totally counter-productive” amid attempts to boost the sector after fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Legislators, however, touted what they considered a long-overdue overhaul of a vestige of Dutch colonial rule, saying it was tailored to uphold “Indonesian values” in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.
Passed by the parliament unanimously, the revised criminal code also empowers police to book persons found insulting the president, government ministers, the national flag and state institutions. The code also expands on existing laws and punishments, with blasphemy now fraught with a maximum five-year prison sentence.
The revised criminal code has left intact capital punishment as a "special punishment" for "serious offences," such as murder, terrorism, drug trafficking. However, it now presupposes a 10-year probationary period. During this time, an individual condemned to death row can, under certain conditions, have the sentence replaced with a life term.