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Protesters in Indonesia clash with police over proposed law to ban sex before marriage

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Protesters in Indonesia clash with police over proposed law to ban sex before marriage

Violent protests have erupted in several parts of the Asian country of Indonesia over a proposed new criminal code mooted by the government that would ban sex before marriage.

Reports say scores of demonstrators who gathered outside the Indonesian parliament clashed with police over the new criminal code which also outlaws most abortions and make insulting the president illegal.

The proposed new criminal code interprets; “Sex before marriage would be criminalised and could result in a one-year prison term.

“Living together outside marriage could lead to a six-month prison sentence.

“Insulting the president, vice president, religion, state institutions and symbols such as the flag and national anthem would be illegal.

“Abortion would carry a maximum four-year prison term if there were no circumstances of a medical emergency or rape.

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Though, the bill has been delayed, but protesters are concerned it could still eventually pass through parliament.

One placard held by a woman said: “My crotch does not belong to the government”.

Protests in other areas, including Yogyakarta and Makassar on Sulawesi Island, continued for a second day.

“We’re going to parliament to oppose the new law for the anti-corruption agency that are not pro-people but are pro-corruptors,” Fuad Wahyudin, 21-year-old student from an Islamic university in West Java, told Reuters.

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