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Decriminalize press to boost democracy
Criminal provisions are unjust and detrimental to Indonesia’s press freedom, as these have simply been too easy to abuse. I observed three legal reasons for this.
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Controversy surrounding the draft amendment of the Criminal Code (KUHP) has included potential legal attacks on journalists. (Shutterstock/File)
C
ontroversy surrounding the draft amendment of the Criminal Code (KUHP) has included potential legal attacks on journalists. The draft reintroduces articles on defamation, insult and slander, the spread of false news, incitement, public decency and crimes against state security.
These provisions are no longer relevant, as they were partly annulled by the Constitutional Court in 2006, which repealed articles on insulting the president and vice president.
Interestingly, the law making regime today believes limiting free expression and the press would benefit democracy and the rule of law, as reflected from two legal developments — the latest circulated draft amendment of the Criminal Code (the Feb. 2 draft) and the recently passed amendment to the 2014 Legislative Bodies ( MD3 ) Law, which empowers the House ethics council (MKD) to take legal action against those who criticize the House and its members.
Overall, these laws and means of criminalizing the press, potentially leading to the imprisonment of journalists, will significantly affect public participation in Indonesia’s democracy. Hence, we need to decriminalize the press instead of attacking them in the name of “responsible democracy”.
![A man walks across a pedestrian crossing near a billboard depicting named Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading “the honest [person's] promise“ and in Persian “Israel is weaker than a spider's web“, in Valiasr Square in central Tehran on April 15, 2024. Iran on April 14 urged Israel not to retaliate militarily to an unprecedented attack overnight, which Tehran presented as a justified response to a deadly strike on its consulate building in Damascus.](https://img.jakpost.net/c/2024/04/16/2024_04_16_149344_1713260233._medium.jpg)
