Camelia Pasandaran – The Ministry of Religious Affairs on Tuesday said it would stand by its proposed draft bill on marriage, which includes controversial articles, but said it was open to reconsidering some points.

The bill, which has been included in the House of Representatives' list of priority bills for this year, proposes a maximum fine of Rp 6 million ($648), or six months imprisonment, for marrying without either the proper documents or the presence of an authorized religious official.

Under the bill, any state official found providing help to administer marriages could also face both a jail term and a hefty fine. Law No. 1/1974 on Marriage requires people to register their marriages with the appropriate civil registry office. However there are no penalties for violators.

Masruchah, a commissioner of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), said she agreed with the banning of unregistered marriages but not with the proposed punishments.

"Considering the punishments, we should understand first that many of those who are tied in an unregistered marriage are from the low-income class," she said.

"If we applied imprisonment and fines, it won't be fair to them. For the wealthy people, it might seem like a light sanction but not to poor people."

However, she said that for someone like Sheikh Puji, a central Java religious figure who married a 12-year-old girl, the proposed sanction is too light.

Minister of Religious Affairs Suryadharma Ali said he was considering several different kinds of punishment instead of imprisonment.

"It is still a draft and open for revision," he said. "We need more opinions, views and reasons that will be philosophical and sociological considerations."

He said he expected the House to agree to the bill. "However, if they don't agree, we will probably change the punishment into administrative punishment, such as oblige them to register, announce it to the public or pay a fine," he said.

Suryadharma said those couples whose marriages were unregistered need not remarry. "They only need to register," he said. "Because if we claimed that their marriage is illegal, then if they have children, they are children of adultery."

Last year, the alleged spiritual leader of terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, told Antara that banning unregistered marriages was crucial.

Ba'asyir claimed that those involved in an unregistered marriage wanted to keep it secret, which is against the tradition of Islam that marriages should be publicized widely.

"One who doesn't want their marriage out in the open is a coward. The state needs to immediately take action and stop this kind of marriage," Ba'asyir said.