Jakarta. Foreign visitors aren’t likely to be prosecuted under the cohabitation and extramarital sex articles of the newly-enacted Criminal Code, a Justice Ministry official said on Monday.

The Criminal Code carries a sentence of one year in prison for sexual relationships outside of marriage and six months' imprisonment for cohabitation.

However, those offenses cannot be prosecuted without a complaint from members of the nuclear family, according to Edward Hiariej, a deputy for the justice minister.

Edward said those articles are adopted in the “Indonesian way” to ensure the observance of the country’s values and customs without the intention to criminalize visitors.

“[Foreign] tourists cannot be charged with these articles,” Edward told a news conference. 

He explained that when an unmarried couple comes to Indonesia for a vacation, only immediate family members such as the parents or their children can make a complaint. To do so, they must come to Indonesia as well.

A similar requirement applies to the article on extramarital sex which requires a complaint from family members such as the spouse or the children.

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The offense-by-request method is called delik aduan in the Indonesian legal terminologies and is meant to defend the privacy of citizens.

“You can imagine if we don’t adopt these articles, authorities in certain areas will conduct raids [against adultery and cohabitation] and search everybody including foreign tourists. But these articles prohibit such actions because it needs a complaint [for adultery to become a criminal offense],” Edward said.

He said foreign visitors shouldn’t worry about coming to Indonesia because of the new Criminal Code.

“There’s no way you will be charged with these articles because it’s an offense by request of the parents or children,” Edward said.

The Criminal Code, which seeks to replace the century-old justice system adopted since the Dutch colonial era, will come into force in 2025 after a three-year dissemination period.

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