Human rights activists protest outside Indonesia's parliament against draft criminal codes on 5 December, 2022. They reject articles they believe will perpetuate corruption in Indonesia, silence press freedom, and regulate public-private space. Photo: AFP/ Eko Siswono Toyudho
Indonesia's sweeping reforms to its colonial-era criminal code have been denounced as a crackdown on civil liberties and political freedoms.
While most of the attention internationally has been on the ban on sex outside of marriage for citizens and foreigners, Dr Ken Setiawan from the Asia Institute of the University of Melbourne said there were other worrying developments.
"In the area of freedom of expression, there's concern around the defamation articles that make it an offence to defame the president and vice-president, governments, state institutions and public authorities," she told the ABC.
She also raised concerns with the provisions around "unannounced demonstrations", the prohibition of spreading ideas that aren't in line with Indonesia's state ideology, and freedom for journalists.
Dr Setiawan said the new criminal code further limits freedom of speech in Indonesia. Photo: ABC/ Supplied
"And then of course, there are issues that really impinge on women's rights, such as a prohibition on giving information around contraception," Dr Setiawan said.
"That does not only have to do with women having a right in deciding on their reproductive health, but it also impinges on other human rights."
Dr Setiawan said even without a new criminal code, there were other ways to silence academics, such as through the Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) law.
"These issues have already been there for a long time, it's not new. [The new laws] just further intensify what's already been happening," Dr Setiawan said.
"Everyone now can be charged with the laws."
Students fear being jailed for protesting
The hashtag #semuabisakena or "everyone can be charged" was circulated among Indonesian social media users to express their disappointment over the new laws.
Abid Al Akbar, a university student at Jakarta's UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, said there were several articles in the new laws that could cause problems for him.
Abid Al Akbar said under the new code even discussing communism puts students at risk of being jailed. Photo: ABC/ Supplied - Abid Al Akbar
"It will be difficult for us to convey our aspirations, to express ourselves and criticise the government because to hold a demonstration we now need a permit," he told the ABC.
"[It] also most likely won't be approved and if we continue to demonstrate, we could be jailed."
Under the new code, the teaching or spreading of communism and Marxism has also been prohibited.
"[If] we, as students, want to hold a discussion or a scientific study on communism and Marxism, this could potentially be reported too and we could be hit [by the law]," Al Akbar said.
Satire could lead to charges
Sakdiyah Ma'ruf, a female Muslim comedian, said her biggest concern was about freedom of expression.
"Articles on insulting the president or state institutions will make us wonder whether what we said is just a criticism or an insult and we already have laws on hate speech," Ma'aruf said.
Ma'ruf said the new code made it hard to know what topics could be joked about without risking a charge. Photo: ABC/ Supplied
"It will be easy for those in positions of power to use it because they may consider it as an insult."
As a comedian, Ma'ruf felt some of the articles related to freedom of expression would curb creativity, particularly in "developing and improving" political satire.
"We won't know whether we can talk [about] topics that are not in line with Pancasila [the state ideology] or are otherwise considered radical," she told the ABC.
Ma'ruf said that while she hoped not to be charged she is looking to use satire to get a political message across.
"I want to create satire content more, I'm ready to fight to strengthen the previously existing satire culture," she said.
"In [the] lead-up to the election in 2024, this will be the momentum to reinvigorate the political culture of satire."
New laws could be used to target journalists
Indonesia's Alliance of Independent Journalists also condemned the new criminal code.
Sasmito Madrim is the chairman of the alliance and a journalist.
Sasmito, the head of Indonesia's Alliance of Independent Journalists Photo: ABC/ Supplied - Sasmito
He told the ABC the ratification of the new code was "evidence that both Indonesian government and parliament were once again not listening to the aspirations of the public".
Many items in the new code directly related to the work of journalists, such as the dissemination of information, Madrim said.
"There is an article about fake news. What does it even mean? Every news item certainly needs to be verified," he said.
"In my opinion this is an article that has the potential to be used to charge journalists, because the definition of news is already regulated in the press law."
If media is threatened by criminal law, self-censorship will occur by journalists because of the threat of imprisonment, which ultimately harms the public, he said.
"Not to mention other [parts of the code] that have the potential to interfere with the work of journalists and have the opportunity to criminalise journalists ... for example the insult provision," Madrim said.
Under that part of the new code, if something is written that criticises the government or president, someone who feels that was insulting can report it using that article as evidence.
The same goes for the new part of the code about distributing fake news.
If the authorities do not like a report, they can stamp it as "fake news" and possibly jail those who wrote it.
Environmental destruction harder to prove
According to Satrio Manggala, an environmental activist from the Indonesian Forum for Environment (WALHI), the article on insulting state institutions and the president are catch-alls that threaten many people, including activists.
"The proportion of defining insults often goes wrong when someone is addressing their criticism with their own expressions," he told the ABC.
The second threat, according to Manggala, is the article on contempt of court.
He worries it could be used to stop protests against court decisions.
"When a court decision does not meet our expectations, we or the public often express our disappointment," he said.
"The boundaries of contempt of court are unclear."
He added that another article that has the potential to ensnare activists is the permit to hold demonstrations.
"Having a permit means you need authorities' approval … without this, if you express your opinion in public, there is a threat of 6 months in prison," he said.
Corporate crimes sections in the criminal code now make it more difficult to prove environmental damage by corporations.
"So, all of us - activists, ordinary people, journalists - can all be hit [by the law], but not environmental criminals, or big corporations that are the perpetrators of the most massive environmental destruction," Manggala said.
-ABC
