Not Everything About Communism is Prohibited: The State Gives Academic Space in the New Criminal Code

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Law confirmed that people who study communism, Marxism, Leninism, or other ideas that are contrary to Pancasila will not be sentenced as long as they are carried out for the sake of science as regulated in Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code (KUHP).

Minister of Law Supratman Andi Agtas said that this provision is a new thing that is accommodated in the new Criminal Code, especially Article 188 paragraph (6).

"There is something new, the new one is like the last one mentioned. If the goal is for research, it is not criminalized," said Supratman at a press conference at the Ministry of Law Building, Jakarta, Antara, Tuesday, January 6.

Supratman explained that Article 188 paragraph (6) provides an exception to imprisonment for parties who study the teachings of communism, Marxism, Leninism, or other doctrines that are contrary to Pancasila solely for the sake of academic and scientific development.

However, he emphasized that the provisions in other paragraphs of Article 188 were not new. The state, he said, still adheres to the agreement that Pancasila is the final ideology, so that the teachings of communism are still prohibited from being disseminated.

"This is not something new. We have agreed that our ideology is the Pancasila ideology. We also know that the teachings of communism should not be spread because it is against Pancasila. I think there is no problem with this," he said.

A similar view was expressed by Deputy Minister of Law Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej. According to Eddy, his nickname, Article 188 in the Criminal Code is only the result of a long-running criminal law reform process.

He explained that the provision was rooted in Law Number 27 of 1999 concerning Amendments to the Criminal Code Book related to Crimes against State Security.

"Law Number 27 of 1999 added six new provisions in Articles 107a to 107f of the old Criminal Code. That was then moved to Article 188 and so on in the new Criminal Code," he said.

Eddy assessed that the controversy that arose was more due to the lack of public understanding of the history of the regulation.

"So, it's not a new thing. This is the problem you never read, suddenly read, shocked. It's been a long time, that old thing, and it's the result of reform," he said.

On the same occasion, member of the KUHP Drafting Team Albert Aries also explained the meaning of the phrase "other understanding" which is contained in Article 188 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.

According to Albert, other understandings refer to all political ideologies that in principle oppose Pancasila as the ideology and basic norms of the state.

"Another understanding is that all political ideology is in essence against Pancasila. We know that Pancasila is final as an ideology and the basic norm of statehood," he said.

As for "disseminating and developing teachings", continued Albert, is an effort to form an organized movement or group that aims to oppose Pancasila, as explained in the Explanation of Article 188 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.

Previously, the Criminal Code was signed by President Joko Widodo and promulgated by the Minister of State Secretary Pratikno on January 2, 2023. Based on Article 624, the new Criminal Code will only take effect three years after it was promulgated, namely on January 2, 2026.