The Jakarta Post
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsA small victory for big freedom: Court shows the way
A government institution has no feelings to hurt, and the Constitutional Court just reminded power that its reputation is protected by performance, not prison.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Set as preferred source
Free speech on trial: Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) coordinator Fatia Maulidiyanti (center) leaves the courtroom after a hearing on Nov. 13, 2023 at the East Jakarta District Court. State prosecutors are demanding a three-year prison sentence for Fatia for her alleged defamation of Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. (Antara/Fakhri Hermansyah)
The Constitutional Court has finally done what the President and the House of Representatives refused to do.
In its landmark ruling No. 282/2025 on Aug. 28, the Court declared Articles 240 and 241 of the new Penal Code on insulting the government unconstitutional and without binding legal force.
We should welcome this ruling without reservation. The Court deserves credit for taking the lead in dragging the country, kicking and screaming, toward greater compliance with international law on free speech.
It is worth remembering what we have committed to. Indonesia signed and ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights through Law No.12/2005. Article 19 of that Covenant is unequivocal: Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information of all kinds. Restrictions are only permitted if they are provided by law, pursue a legitimate aim, and are necessary and proportionate in a democratic society.
For years, we have failed that three-part test.
This ruling matters not just for what it says, but for who said it.
The MK is now one of the few institutions left in this Republic that still protects freedom, rights and democracy, when all others, including the executive and legislative branches, are pushing in the opposite direction.
