Indonesia
The Constitutional Court’s decision to scrap criminal penalties for insulting the government and state institutions has been applauded by activists, though they caution that the ruling alone remains insufficient to deter rising intimidation and criminalization against critics.
A police officer patrols the grounds of the Constitutional Court on Feb. 4, 2025, in Central Jakarta. (Antara/Bayu Pratama S.)
The Constitutional Court’s decision to scrap criminal penalties for insulting the government and state institutions has been applauded by activists as upholding freedom of speech, though they caution that the ruling alone remains insufficient to deter rising intimidation and criminalization against critics.In a ruling issued on Friday, the nine-justice panel granted a petition filed by a dozen of law school students challenging Articles 240 and 241 of the new Criminal Code, which penalized defaming the government and state institutions.
The law defines the government as the president, vice president and cabinet ministers, and state institutions as People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), House of Representatives, Regional Representative Council (DPD), the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court.
