JAKARTA Reuters- Indonesia's parliament approved a criminal code that bans sex outside marriage with a punishment of up to one year in jail, part of a raft of legal changes that critics say undermine civil liberties in the world's third largest democracy.
The new laws, which apply to Indonesians and foreigners, also include a ban on insulting the president or state institutions and expressing views contrary to state ideology.
Legislators applauded the passage of the criminal code that the Southeast Asian nation has been talking about revising since declaring independence from the Dutch.
The old code belongs to Dutch heritage. The code is no longer relevant, said Bambang Wuryanto, head of the parliamentary commission in charge of revising it, to lawmakers.
Business groups warned that it could harm Indonesia's image as a tourism and investment destination.
In Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority nation, has seen a rise in religious conservatism in recent years with legal experts suggesting the new laws around morality and a separate article on customary law will reinforce discriminatory and sharia-inspired bylaws at the local level.
The bill's opponents highlighted articles they say are socially regressive, will curb free speech and represent a huge setback to the retention of democratic freedoms after the fall of authoritarian leader Suharto in 1998.