Blinken conveys US concern over Indonesia criminal code

WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed Washington's concern about certain provisions in Indonesia's new criminal code in a call Wednesday with the country's foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, the State Department said.

Indonesian lawmakers approved a new criminal code in December banning sex outside marriage and prohibiting cohabitation between unmarried couples.

The code, decades in the making and created to replace a colonial-era set of laws, includes articles that ban insulting the president and state institutions, and spreading views counter to the state ideology, known as Pancasila.

Critics have said the criminal code undermines civil liberties. Local officials have defended it as reflective of Indonesia's identity.

In their call, the two leaders also discussed US support for Indonesia's chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. — Reuters