The Criminalisation of Santet under Indonesian Criminal Law and Islamic Law: Proof and Victim Protection

Abstract

Santet, commonly translated as witchcraft, is difficult to prove in court and has provoked vigilante violence against alleged practitioners in Indonesia. Article 252 of Law No. 1 of 2023, in force since 2 January 2026, criminalises claiming supernatural power or offering services said to cause harm, yet its proof and victim protection remain contested. This study compares how Article 252 and Islamic law regulate the proof of santet and protect its victims, and identifies implications for harmonising national and Islamic law. It employs doctrinal legal research with statute, conceptual, and comparative approaches. Legal materials were collected through document study and analysed descriptively and qualitatively through a functional comparison on five criteria: definition, elements, punishment, proof, and victim protection. Article 252 is a preventive formal offence that requires proof of the claim or offer rather than of the supernatural act. Islamic law accepts the reality of sorcery, relies on confession, testimony, and indicators, and its four Sunni schools differ on penalties. Both systems struggle to prove what cannot be verified, and neither offers a victim mechanism specific to santet; national protection depends on case-specific designation under the victim-protection law. The study recommends clarifying the notion of supernatural power, issuing evidentiary guidelines, extending victim protection, and using maqasid al-shariah as a purposive bridge rather than transplanting classical penalties.