INDONESIA: STATE-SECRETS LAW WOULD CARRY DEATH PENALTY

September 10, 2009: The Indonesian House of Representatives and the government agreed to pass a state secrecy bill sets the death penalty for leaking state secrets.
A member of the House’s working committee deliberating the bill, Effendi Choirie, said lawmakers had approved a maximum penalty of 20 years of imprisonment or capital punishment and a minimum jail sentence of four years and fine of Rp 100 million (US$10,000) for the crime.
The committee has also reached an agreement on the definition of state secrets.
“State secrets are defined as information or materials and activities, which are classified as secrets by the president, and could potentially endanger the state, its existence and integrity if they are leaked to people who do not have the right to possess them,” chairman of the committee, Guntur Sasono of the Democratic Party, told The Jakarta Post. (Sources: Jakarta Post, 10/09/2009)