NU rejects sharia for Criminal Code

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The country's largest Muslim organization the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) rejected on Friday the inclusion of sharia in the planned amendment to the Criminal Code (KUHP), saying it would create disputes between people of different religions or even among Muslim groups.

"The inclusion of sharia would create conflict between religions and even among Muslims here," NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Instead, Hasyim suggested that universal principles such as justice and equality, which could be accepted by all religions and groups, be incorporated in the draft KUHP.

He agreed that the prevailing KUHP, which was based on a similar code in the Netherlands and applied here by Dutch colonialists, should be reviewed as it was out of date and some of its articles were no longer relevant.

NU, which has around 40 million members around the country, has frequently opposed attempts by minority but vocal Islamic groups to include sharia in the Constitution and laws.

Among Muslim groups there is no single interpretation of sharia as it is based on teachings from many noted ulemas who had various interpretations of the two main sources of Islamic law -- the Koran and Hadith (the deeds of prophet Muhammad).

Islamic groups that base their teachings on puritanism and Wahabism (a branch of Islamic teaching from Saudi Arabia) have grown over the past few years and are demanding the adoption of sharia.

The groups failed to have sharia included in the amendments to the Constitution last year, but they managed to have their interests included in the Education Law endorsed in June this year.

The planned review of the KUHP, which is being drafted by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, is suspected to be a ploy to include sharia.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mehendra earlier admitted that the review was to accommodate particular groups who were demanding the implementation of sharia.

Yusril, who also chairs the Crescent Star Party (PBB), has long fought for the adoption of sharia.

The government also faces sharp criticism for its plan to criminalize black magic and private matters related to sex, including oral sex, cohabitation and sodomy.

Critics have suggested that the government revise some of the "repressive" articles contained in KUHP such as on libel, which is often used against the mass media in an effort to silence critical voices.

Under the libel article, the South Jakarta District Court sentenced Rakyat Merdeka daily chief editor Karim Paputungan last month to five months in prison with 10 months probation for printing a caricature deemed insulting to House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung, while the daily's executive editor Supratman faces a one-year prison term on charges of defaming President Megawati Soekarnoputri in several articles published by the daily.

Tempo magazine chief editor Bambang Harymurti and two journalists are being tried for defaming businessman Tomy Winata and allegedly spreading untruths in the magazine's coverage of a major fire in Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta in February.