Researchers and activists are concerned that several contentious provisions in the draft bill on amendments to the Criminal Code (KUHP) amendments could curb freedoms and set back Indonesia’s democracy.

The government, as represented by the Law and Human Rights Ministry, recently submitted the latest version of the draft bill to the House of Representatives. The ministry claimed it had softened some of the contentious provisions, but critics said they had been left largely intact.

The latest version of the KUHP bill still retains articles that criminalize insulting a sitting president or vice president, although the government has made changes to include an additional condition that “criticisms” made against the President are not a crime if they are made in the “public interest”.

Source:
courtesy of THE JAKARTA POST

by Nur Janti (The Jakarta Post)

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