Verdict and Dissenting Opinion

In the verdict read by Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Suhartoyo, the Constitutional Court stated that the phrase “legal protection” in Article 8 of the Press Law is contrary to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and does not have conditionally binding legal force as long as it is not interpreted that the application of criminal and/or civil sanctions against journalists who carry out their profession legally can only be used after the mechanism of the right of reply, the right of correction, and alleged violations of the journalistic code of ethics based on consideration and settlement efforts by the Press Council does not reach an agreement as part of the application restorative justice.

Against this decision, three constitutional justices—Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Saldi Isra, Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh, and Constitutional Justice Arsul Sani—expressed dissenting opinions (dissenting opinion) which essentially stated that the petition should have been rejected.