JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia on Friday began enforcing its newly ratified penal code, replacing a Dutch-era criminal law that had governed the country for more than 80 years and marking a major shift in its legal landscape.
Since proclaiming independence in 1945, the Southeast Asian country had continued to operate under a colonial framework widely criticized as outdated and misaligned with Indonesia’s social values. Efforts to revise the code stalled for decades as lawmakers debated how to balance human rights, religious norms and local traditions in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
The 345-page Indonesian Penal Code, known as the KUHP, was passed in 2022. At the time, then-U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the U.S. was “closely monitoring the revised criminal code” of its democratic partner.
It criminalizes sex outside marriage and reintroduces penalties for insulting the president and state institutions. It comes into force following a three-year transition period.
A previously revised code was poised for passage in 2019, but then-President Joko Widodo urged lawmakers to delay a vote amid mounting public criticism that led to nationwide protests involving tens of thousands of people.
Opponents said it contained articles that discriminated against minorities and that the legislative process lacked transparency.
A parliamentary task force finalized the bill in November 2022 and lawmakers unanimously approved it a month later in what the government called a “historic step.”
The enforcement of the new penal code marks “the end of the colonial criminal law era and the beginning of a more humane, modern, and just legal system rooted in Indonesian culture,” said Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra.
“This is a historic moment for the Indonesian nation,” Mahendra said in a statement on Friday.
He said the old code based on Dutch law is "no longer relevant to the dynamics of modern Indonesian society.”
Under the amended code, sex outside marriage is punishable by up to one year in prison, while cohabitation carries a six-month sentence. However, adultery cases can only proceed following a complaint by a spouse, parents or children — a safeguard the government says prevents arbitrary enforcement, including against tourists.
Rights groups remain skeptical. Human Rights Watch warned the morality-based provisions could lead to invasions of privacy and selective enforcement.
The code also restores a ban on insulting a sitting president or vice president, state institutions and the national ideology. Cases must be reported by the president and carry penalties of up to three years in prison for “attacking the honor or dignity” of state leaders.
Deputy Minister of Law Edward Hiariej said the government has issued strict guidelines distinguishing criticism from criminal insult, but rights advocates argue the provisions threaten freedom of expression.
Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid described the KUHP as “a significant blow” to civil liberties.
“This overreaching criminal code will entrench obstacles to freedom of speech while criminalizing legitimate and peaceful dissent,” Hamid said, warning it could open the door to abuse of power.
The new code also expands an existing blasphemy law, maintaining prison sentences of up to five years for deviations from the core teachings of Indonesia’s six officially recognized religions. It preserves penalties of up to 10 years for associating with Marxist-Leninist organizations and four years for spreading communist ideology.
Some advocates welcomed lawmakers’ decision to drop a proposed article that would have criminalized gay sex, following opposition from civil society groups. The move was hailed as a rare positive outcome for Indonesia’s LGBTQ community.
The revised code retains the death penalty, despite calls from rights groups to abolish capital punishment. However, it introduces a 10-year probationary period, after which death sentences may be commuted to life imprisonment or 20 years if the convict demonstrates good behavior.
It also maintains a ban on abortion while formalizing existing exceptions for life-threatening medical conditions and pregnancies resulting from rape, provided the fetus is less than 12 weeks old.
Legal experts say the KUHP reflects a fundamental change in how punishment is applied. Hiariej noted that public opinion still often favors harsh penalties, a mindset he described as rooted in outdated notions of retribution.
“This is a legacy of the law of retaliation,” he said, contrasting it with modern systems that emphasize harm repair and reintegration.
The Institute for Criminal Justice Reform said the code expands non-custodial sentences, including community service and supervision, and gives judges greater discretion to tailor penalties.
ICJR executive director Erasmus Napitupulu said these measures could help ease prison overcrowding and better serve victims.
He also praised the probationary mechanism for death row inmates as “an initial step toward eventually abolishing the death penalty in Indonesia.”
“This is a good mechanism and meaningful progress for criminal justice reform,” Napitupulu said.
FILE - Indonesian Law and Human Right Minister Yasonna Laoly, left, pose for the media with Deputy House Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, center, during a session ratifying the country's new criminal code at the parliament building in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. (AP Photo, File)
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Axel Clavier felt like he was suffocating inside the Swiss Alpine bar where moments before he'd been ringing in the new year with friends and dozens of other revelers.
The 16-year-old from Paris escaped the inferno, which broke out after midnight Thursday, by forcing a window open with a table. But about 40 other partygoers died, including one of Clavier's friends, falling victim to one of the worst tragedies in Switzerland's history.
The blaze also injured about 115 people, most of them seriously, as it ripped through the crowded Le Constellation bar at the ski resort of Crans-Montana, police said.
Clavier told The Associated Press that “two or three” of his friends remained missing hours after the disaster.
Valais Canton police commander Frédéric Gisler said during a news conference that work is underway to identify the victims and inform their families, adding that the community is “devastated.”
Authorities did not immediately have an exact count of the deceased.
Beatrice Pilloud, Valais Canton attorney general, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire.
“At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack,” Pilloud said.
She later said the number of people who were in the bar is “unknown,” and its maximum capacity will be part of the investigation.
“For the time being, we don’t have any suspects,” she added, when asked if anyone had been arrested over the fire. “An investigation has been opened, not against anyone, but to better understand the circumstances of this dramatic fire.”
Clavier, the Parisian teenager, said he didn’t see the fire start, but did see waitresses arrive with Champagne bottles with burning sparklers. He lost his jacket, shoes, phone and bank card while fleeing, but “I am still alive and it’s just stuff.”
“I’m still in shock,” he added.
Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV they were inside when they saw a male bartender lifting a female bartender on his shoulders as she held a lit candle in a bottle. The flames spread, collapsing the wooden ceiling, they told the broadcaster.
One of the women described a crowd surge as people frantically tried to escape from a basement nightclub up a narrow flight of stairs and through a narrow door.
Another witness speaking to BFMTV described people smashing windows to escape the blaze, some gravely injured, and panicked parents rushing to the scene in cars to see whether their children were trapped inside. The young man said he saw about 20 people scrambling to get out of the smoke and flames and likened what he saw to a horror movie as he watched from across the street.
“This evening should have been a moment of celebration and coming together, but it turned into a nightmare,” said Mathias Reynard, head of the regional government of the Valais Canton.
Crans-Montana is less than 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Sierre, where 28 people, including many children, were killed when a bus from Belgium crashed inside a Swiss tunnel in 2012.
In a region busy with tourists skiing on the slopes, the authorities have called on the local population to show caution in the coming days to avoid accidents that could further strain the area's already overwhelmed medical resources.
With high-altitude ski runs rising around 3,000 meters (nearly 9,850 feet) in the heart of the Valais region's snowy peaks and pine forests, Crans-Montana is one of the top venues on the World Cup circuit. The resort will host the best men’s and women’s downhill racers, including Lindsey Vonn, for their final events before the Milan-Cortina Olympics in February. The town's Crans-sur-Sierre golf club stages the European Masters each August on a picturesque course.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin, speaking on his first day in the largely ceremonial job, said many emergency staff had been “confronted by scenes of indescribable violence and distress.”
“This Thursday must be the time of prayer, unity and dignity,” he said. “Switzerland is a strong country not because it is sheltered from drama, but because it knows how to face them with courage and a spirit of mutual help.”
Dazio reported from Berlin and Leicester reported from Paris. Geir Moulson in Berlin and Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.
Police stands at an emergency tent beside the sealed off Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday morning, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
The sealed off Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations is seen in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday morning, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
People cry at the scene after a fire broke out at the "Le Constellation" bar and lounge during New Year's celebration, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
People lay candles and flowers near the Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
Shadows of People are seen in the sealed off Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
People lay flowers and light candles for the victims of the fire at the "Le Constellation" bar and lounge during New Year's celebration, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
People lay candles near the Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
People lay candles and flowers near the Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
A floral tribute left near the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge during New Year's celebration, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
A hearse drives past as police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge during New Year's celebration, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
