Indonesia Looks to Ban Black Magic, Premarital Sex

Practitioners face 5 years in jail
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 22, 2013 12:57 PM CDT
Indonesia Looks to Ban Black Magic, Premarital Sex
An Indonesian man prepares a "black magic" potion of animal blood and other ingredients in this 2006 file photo.   (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana, File)

Indonesian lawmakers are considering a new criminal code that probably won't do much to hold the country up as a bastion of modern thinking. Among the proposals in the new code, drafted by a team led by a conservative Muslim scholar:

  • Premarital sex: Five years in prison
  • Singles living together: One year in prison

  • Adultery: Five years in prison; scofflaws currently get 9 months
  • Black magic: Offering such services, which are big business in the country, also gets five years
  • Insulting the president: Five years in prison
It will likely take the better part of the year to hash out the 202-page revision, reports the Wall Street Journal. Wonders a 33-year-old woman in Jakarta: "Doesn't the government have better things to do?" (More Indonesia stories.)

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