House defends decision to keep black magic illegal

JAKARTA: In what could be seen as a promotional line, a man claiming to be “Ki Barong”, Ki is Javanese and usually refers to a man possessing power, wrote on his Facebook wall that he “is the mightiest of all dukun santet (black magic shamans).”

Ki Barong said in his post that he could cast deadly santet spells, so baneful that no victims could be cured by any means.

In Indonesia, where more half of the citizens are now connected to the internet, it is not difficult to find santet shamans like Ki Barong, who has been using technology to offer what he claims to be the powers of the supernatural.

However, people like Ki Borong may no longer be able to make online ads for their businesses, which may soon be declared illegal.

A House of Representatives team tasked with deliberating the Criminal Code (KUHP) Bill on Thursday wants to scrap the original KUHP article that makes it illegal to sell, offer, or distribute items that reportedly have “dark” powers, or to teach black magic, and to replace the article with one that criminalises anyone who declares or promises “they possess the ability to perform black magic that can cause sickness, death, physical and mental sickness”.

The amended article would carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and 300mil rupiah (RM99,072) in fines upon conviction.

The lawmakers thought shamans should get a heavier punishment since the current KUHP stipulates that people selling, offering or distributing black magic items and those who teach black magic could only be jailed for three months and ordered to pay a 450,000 rupiah (RM148) fine.

While many would easily jeer at the law, the lawmakers said their decision could be rationally justified.

“This is not a crime based on a report. It is the law enforcement officers who will hunt down the people who declare that they are santet shaman, either in a written or a verbal way,” Teuku Taufiqulhadi said.

Taufiqulhadi, a Nasdem Party lawmaker, said the agreed provisions were aimed at preventing violent witch hunts and ensuring public order. As the advertisement by Ki Borong shows, many people seem to believe in black magic.

“Santet is commonly used by people who lose political battles, business deals, or even in their love life, in order to retaliate,” University of Indonesia anthropologist Amich Alhumami said.

It was generally perceived by the public that santet had caused several incurable sicknesses, he added.