Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Insulting the president is crime no more after the Constitutional Court on Wednesday scrapped three articles in the old Criminal Code.
The court said three articles undermined the country's process toward democracy and caused confusion because they were subject to subjective interpretations.
The code had ruled burning pictures of the president and vice president and mocking them in public were insults. Violators of the law faced a maximum six years in jail.
Court chief Jimly Asshiddiqie said the three articles were now null and void.
"(Those articles) pave the way for law enforcers to curb the right to freedom of expression when dealing with protesters in rallies," he said.
The court had reviewed the code as requested by lawyer Eggi Sudjana and activist Pandapotan Lubis.
Eggi is on trial for slandering Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his advisors, while Pandapotan was arrested after insulting the president at a rally.
The panel of nine judges said the articles made it difficult for people to criticize the president and his deputy.
The verdict was handed down in a split decision with four of the nine judges offering dissenting opinions.
The dissenting judges said the petition made by Eggi and Pandapotan should be rejected. The said the president's dignity must be protected and that the problem with the articles was in their implementation.
However, Jimly said the newly drafted bill on the Criminal Code should no longer incorporate similar articles.
A government-sanctioned team assigned to draft the bill to replace the Criminal Code has insisted on inserting articles on insulting the president. "Every country has such articles," team head Muladi once said.
The code, inherited from Dutch colonial legislation, was often used by former president Soeharto to silence critics during his 30 years in power.
The latest verdict was applauded by human rights and political activists.
"We have just made a history," Eggi said after the hearing. "I will use this ruling for my defense plea. The defamation trial against me should be dropped as it is ridiculous to try somebody without a legal basis," he said.
Former staunch Soeharto critic Sri Bintang Pamungkas said the verdict was a "victory" for all activists.
"Dozens of activists have been arrested and jailed because of the articles," he said.
Sri Bintang, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia, was jailed for 34 months for insulting Soeharto while addressing a seminar in Germany in 1995.
Fakhrur Rahman, 21, a student from Jakarta's State Islamic University, is the latest activist convicted of insulting the president during a protest against the Yudhoyono administration. He was sentenced to three months in prison.
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