- Indonesian lawmakers are petitioning the Constitutional Court this year
- A petition is hoping to see sex outside of marriage criminalised in the country
- There are fears that this will heighten discrimination against LGBTI couples
- Bali has faced a 5.7-magnitude earthquake in recent days, causing holiday chaos
Unmarried Australian tourists could face jail in Bali if they have sex, under proposed Indonesian laws.
The petition to change the criminal code will be put forward to Indonesia’s Constitutional Court this year.
‘The group behind this petition want to make consensual relationships outside marriage illegal,’ Human Rights Watch Indonesian researcher Andreas Harsono told news.com.au.
The petition to change the criminal code will be put forward to Indonesia’s Constitutional Court this year (stock image)
Indonesian lawmakers plan on making sex outside of marriage and same-sex relationships illegal – meaning unmarried Australian tourists could face hefty jail terms if they holiday there (stock image)
‘If it becomes a national law Australians could be punished. We’re now waiting for the verdict.
‘If it is to materialise, it will be used to charge same-sex couples indeed. It will be a crime.’
While unmarried sexual relations is part of the petition Mr Harsono suggested that the idea was to target same-sex couples above all because it remains a taboo topic in Indonesia.
Relations of the homosexual variety are not technically illegal, except in the province of Banda Aceh, but this decision will only work to further discriminate.
Bali is currently on high alert after a 5.7-magnitude tremor was detected in the Java Sea late on Wednesday and evacuations have begun around the Mount Agung volcano in case it erupts.
Mt Agung (pictured) is located in east of Bali and tens of thousands of people live near the crater
But at this stage tourists are still being invited to visit Bali despite three hundred tremors being recorded around the site of Mount Agung (pictured) on the resort island
But at this stage tourists are still being invited to visit Bali despite three hundred tremors being recorded around the site of Mount Agung on the resort island.
Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency has said the island remains safe for tourists, many of whom are Australians going on school holidays.
Between midnight and 6am on Sunday, three hundred tremors were felt and white smoke was seen 200 metres above the crater.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, National Disaster Management Agency spokesman, tweeted that as of Sunday morning the volcano had not erupted and there was no volcanic ash.