JAKARTA, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Indonesia's new criminal code has grabbed headlines for making sex outside marriage illegal but Islamic parties wanted even harsher punishment for moral crimes in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, accounts of behind-the-scenes negotiations reveal. "We found a middle ground, not only between nationalists and religious parties but also between progressive liberals and conservatives," he said. In forming the laws, a team of legal professors had turned to Indonesia's official dictionary, which defines adultery as any sex outside marriage, not just extramarital sex. The compromise reached in the final version carries a maximum one-year sentence for sex outside marriage and six months for cohabitation. "The Islamic parties benefit from the morality agenda ... while the other parties will benefit from strengthening of authoritarianism," he said.

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