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Indonesia debates new morality
You can thank Robert Rubin, Clinton's overrated Treasury Secretary, for this - his indifference to Soros's machinations in the currency markets led to Suharto's collapse. Now we have Islamism rearing its ugly head in Indonesia.
Was that his first billion or his second? I can never remember ...
Adulterers, cohabiting unmarried couples and those who kiss in public could all become criminals if a new Indonesian criminal code is approved.

A long awaited draft revision of the Indonesian criminal code proposes harsh fines and prison terms for those who flout the rules. Many say the existing code inherited from Dutch rule is liberal flawed and Western outdated, but some activists are deeply unhappy with the new proposals.

Under the proposed draft, offenders caught kissing in the open could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined as much as 300 million rupiah (A$42,590), reports the Jakarta Post. Unmarried couples living together could be penalised with up to two years in jail. It would also give police and officials the power to raid houses of all those they suspected of living together.

Justice ministry official Abdul Gani Abdullah said the law would only apply if others complained. "Kissing in public is a crime if the people around are not happy and lodge a complaint. But if they think it's all right, then no action will be taken," he told the AFP news agency. "The same goes with cohabitation. If neighbours think the presence of an unmarried couple living together is a nuisance, they can report to police."
And every neighborhood will have a cranky holy man ready to complain.
Law expert and women's rights activist Nursyahbani Katjasungkana told the Jakarta Post the morality articles were excessive and infringed on the "rights of the body".

Legal expert Andi Hamzah asked "What about tourists? Will we hunt them down too?"
What tourists?
The code is expected to be debated over a two-year period. If passed it would bring Indonesia, the country with the world's largest Muslim population, into line with many other Muslim states.
Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-02-07
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=55819