The Penal Code Act 2023, also known as the 2023 Indonesian Penal Code or 2023 Indonesian Criminal Code, is the new criminal code in Indonesia, replacing the Dutch-era code. This law is the most comprehensive and time-consuming legislation ever crafted in Indonesia, having taken over 50 years to develop since its initial formulation.
The law, however, will take effect on 2 January 2026, three years after its enactment.
A series of mass protests led by students took place at major cities in Indonesia from 23 September 2019, to rally against new legislation that reduces the authority of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), as well as several bills including a new criminal code that penalises extramarital sex and defamation against the president. The protesters consisted of mostly students from over 300 universities, with no association with any particular political parties or groups. The protests were the most prominent student movement in Indonesia since the 1998 riots that brought down the Suharto regime.
In several cities including Jakarta, Bandung and Padang, protesters clashed with the Indonesian National Police (Polri), resulting in the riot police firing tear gas and water cannons. In the capital city of Jakarta, the police confirmed that at least 254 students and 39 police officers are injured or being treated in hospitals. In Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, two students died, one of them allegedly being shot during the violent clash. Another three protesters died in Jakarta.
Bloody September (Indonesian: September Berdarah) was an incident which took place on 26 September 2019 during the height of the 2019 Indonesian protests and riots in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi. Two Haluoleo University students, Imawan Randi and Yusuf Kardawi, were allegedly shot by police while protesting in front of the provincial parliament building and the regional police headquarters against the controversial revision of the status of the Corruption Eradication Commission and the new Criminal Code Bill.
The shooting has been commemorated by the students of the university every year since with demands for an investigation and prosecution of the perpetrator. In 2022, the commemoration's demonstration ended in a riot and clashes with security personnel. Both cases' investigations, as of 2022, have not yet been closed.
The Indonesian Penal Code (Dutch: Wetboek van Strafrecht, WvS), commonly known in Indonesian as Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana (lit. 'Law Book of Penal Code', derived from Dutch), abbreviated as KUH Pidana or KUHP), are laws and regulations that form the basis of criminal law in Indonesia. By deviating as necessary from Presidential Regulation dated 10 October 1945 No. 2, it stipulated that the criminal law regulations that are in effect are the Dutch criminal law regulations that existed on 8 March 1942. Currently, the Republic of Indonesia has its own Criminal Code, that is due to take effect in 2026.