VP supports bans against witchcraft

JAKARTA: Vice President Hamzah Haz said on Saturday he supported a plan to revise the Criminal Code to allow for a ban against sorcery.

"It will prevent anarchy among people," he told reporters during a visit to Bogor Palace.

Hamzah said that witchcraft was a common practice among Indonesians, therefore a rule to regulate it was mandatory.

He admitted, however, that it would not be easy to provide evidence to prove charges involving sorcery in court.

The draft of the revision to the Criminal Code has sparked controversy for clauses that criminalize private sexual matters and witchcraft.

The government has planned to amend the current Criminal Code since the 1980s, which is a legacy of the Dutch, who occupied Indonesia for 350 years until it gained independence in 1945.

The government said that the revision would include the addition of new articles to cope with the complexity of Indonesian society. -- Antara