VIVAnews - The new point in Religious Court Material Draft Bill, which allows prosecution for people committing unregistered marriages, has sparked controversy.
Religious Affairs Department’s Director General for Islamic Affairs, Nazaruddin Umar explained the reason behind the prosecution.
“If they don’t get punished, they will keep doing it. Just like what’s happening right now,” he told reporters at Hotel Santika on Tuesday, February 16.
Umar also said the regulation had been implemented in Islamic countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Aljazair and Tunisia.
“These countries have enforced the law since 10 years ago, imposing sanctions to violators of marriage elements,” he said. “We haven’t done it until now because the impacts have been too large”.
Divorces from unregistered marriages, which are without legal certainty, will bring major social impacts, especially to the kids born from these marriages.
The debate on the issue emerged after the Religious Affairs Ministry suggested the president to create a regulation on unregistered marriages. Constitutional Court Head Mahfud MD assumes the prosecution is feasible.
Earlier, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) declares unregistered marriages could be haram (prohibited).
“Unregistered marriages are allowed if they follow all Islamic requirements. But it could be prohibited as well,” MUI Chief Ma’ruf Amin told VIVAnews on Tuesday, February 16.
According to him, unregistered marriages could be prohibited if there are people victimized by them.
“Usually the victims are the children or the wives whose rights are not protected. They won’t have inheritance rights and others,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission considers the prosecution out of line. The government is deemed having intruded people’s privacy.
“If they are setting the punishments, I think it will be no longer in line with Indonesia’s commitment to improve people’s basic rights,” the Commission Vice President, Hesti Armiwulan said on Tuesday, February 16.
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Translated by: Nataya Ermanti
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