B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Indonesian lawmakers unanimously passed a sweeping new Criminal Code on Tuesday that criminalizes sex outside marriage, as part of a tranche of changes that critics say threaten human rights and freedoms in the southeast Asian country.
The new code, which also applies to foreign residents and tourists, bans cohabitation before marriage, apostasy, and provides punishments for insulting the president or expressing views counter to the national ideology.
"All have agreed to ratify the (draft changes) into law," said lawmaker Bambang Wuryanto, who led the parliamentary commission in charge of revising the colonial-era code. "The old code belongs to Dutch heritage … and is no longer relevant."
The world's largest Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia has seen a rise in religious conservatism in recent years. Strict Islamic laws are already enforced in parts of the country, including the semi-autonomous Aceh province, where alcohol and gambling are banned. Public floggings also take place in the region for a range of offences including homosexuality and adultery.
The changes to the Criminal Code have not only alarmed human rights advocates, who warned of their potential to stifle personal freedoms, but also travel industry representatives – who worried about their potential effect on tourism.
In a news conference Tuesday, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly said it wasn't easy for a multicultural and multi-ethnic country to make a Criminal Code that "accommodates all interests."
He said he hoped that Indonesians understood that lawmakers had done everything they could to accommodate "public aspiration," and invited dissatisfied parties to submit a judicial review to the constitutional court.
In the lead up to Tuesday's vote, rights groups and critics warned that the new code would "disproportionately impact women" and further curtail human rights and freedoms in the country of more than 270 million people.
"What we're witnessing is a huge setback to Indonesia's hard-won progress in protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms after the 1998 revolution. This Criminal Code should have never been passed in the first place," said Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia.
The new Criminal Code runs to 200 pages and has been years in the making.
A previous draft was set to be passed in 2019 but the vote was postponed after thousands of protesters, mostly students, took to the streets demanding the government withdraw it.
In a televised address at the time, President Joko Widodo said he would delay the vote after "seriously considering feedback from different parties who feel objections on some substantial content of the Criminal Code."
Hamid from Amnesty noted there had been "no meaningful changes" enacted since 2019.
Under the version passed Tuesday, sex outside marriage carries a potential one-year prison term though there a restrictions on who can lodge a formal complaint. For example, the parents of children who are cohabitating before marriage have the authority to report them.
As well as introducing new offences, the code also expands on existing laws and punishments. Blasphemy laws have increased from "one to six provisions" and can now lead to a maximum five-year prison sentence, according to a draft document.
Hamid said laws on insulting the country's leaders and unsanctioned protests will have a "chilling effect" on free speech.
"The reinstatement of provisions banning insults to the president and vice president, the sitting government as well as state institutions would further create a palpable chilling effect on freedom of speech and criminalize legitimate criticisms," he said.
Human Rights Watch Indonesia Researcher Andreas Harsono said the laws are "a setback for already declining religious freedom in Indonesia," warning they could be misused to target certain individuals.
"The danger of oppressive laws is not that they'll be broadly applied, it's that they provide avenue for selective enforcement," he said.
Hadi Rahmat Purnama, from the University of Indonesia's law faculty, said the laws would be implemented after a transitional period of three years.
The laws are expected to trouble the business community, especially those who regularly host and cater for foreign nationals and tourists.
The island of Bali, for example, relies heavily on tourist revenue and is still recovering from the pandemic slowdown that kept travellers away.
Putu Winastra, chairman of the Association of the Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies (ASITA) in Bali, told CNN the laws would "make foreigners think twice" about visiting Indonesia.
"From our point of view as tourism industry players, this law will be very troublesome," said Putu, who questioned how the laws would be policed.
"Should we ask (overseas unmarried couples) if they are married or not? Do tourist couples have to prove that they are married?" he asked.
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
A Montreal-area family confirmed to CTV News that the body of their loved one who died while on vacation in Cuba is being repatriated to Canada after it was mistakenly sent to Russia.
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
A B.C. man has been found not guilty of assaulting two RCMP officers – with the court finding he was resisting an "unlawful entry and arrest" in his home before he was tasered, taken down and hauled away in handcuffs.
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.