House moves to soften porn bill amid divide

House moves to soften porn bill amid divide

Dian Kuswandini , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 09/25/2008 10:04 AM | National

Responding to mounting public criticism, the House of Representatives has begun revising several contentious articles of the pornography bill, which is scheduled to be passed into law in October.

A legislator of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Agung Sasongko said a technical team, established to gather public input, had published a list of the most-criticized articles in the bill.

“Following pubic hearings in Jakarta, Ambon, Makassar and Banjarmasin on Sept. 18, the team found that the most-criticized articles include Articles 1, 4, 14, 21 and 22,” Agung told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Article 1 defines pornography as any sexual reference exhibited as a drawing, sketch, illustration, photograph, text, sound, moving picture, animation, cartoon, poetry, conversation or any other form of communication.

Article 4 regulates restrictions and limitations on pornographic materials and services, while Article 14 concerns the use of sexual materials in traditional rituals and art and culture. Articles 21 and 22 stipulate the public’s involvement in undertaking preventive measures against pornography.

“The working group for the bill is currently deliberating on the changes both to the articles’ substances and grammatical structures,” said Agung, a legislator of the House’s Commission VIII overseeing religions, social affairs and women’s empowerment.

A member of the working group, Irsyad Sudiro of the Golkar Party, said the group expected to significantly alter the bill.

“In general, the bill would not violate human rights, or criminalize or discriminate against women,” he said.

Agung said the working group had involved in the deliberations linguists and representatives from the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office.

“Linguists will ensure the editorial of the bill will not mislead public perception, while law enforcers will help decide how strict actions against violators can be carried out,” he said.

The PDI-P and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS), which previously disagreed on the bill and walked out of the deliberation process, have rejoined talks following the latest revision proposals.

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which has firmly supported the bill, said the changes should focus on containing the porn industry, which it said was on the rise.

“The new draft should also not deconstruct local and national cultural products and their characteristics,” PKS faction chairman Mahfudz Siddiq said.

“The bill would allow access to use pornographic materials for educational purposes, that will be regulated further,” he added.

Ali Mochtar Ngabalin of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) said he guaranteed the bill would protect and respect local values and traditions.

“We have plenty of time to give chances to the public to deliver their criticism and input. We will accept all input with open minds,” he said as quoted by Antara.

Despite mounting pressure to cancel the bill, Ngabalin said he was optimistic the bill would be passed into law during a plenary meeting scheduled for Oct. 14.