On the final session of “The 4th Indonesian Constitutional Court International Symposium (also known as 2021 ICCIS), Tri Sulistianing Astuti, Team Leader of Center for Democratization Studies, Jakarta present her paper.

https://www.youtube.com/live/VP6BzJHFwr8?feature=share&t=10374

Astuti shared about the freedom of speech and religion as the fundamental rights of everyone in a democratic country. She believed that freedom of speech allowed the media to find the truth in the form of innuendo and satire as an expression. However, she admitted that innuendoes and satire as a way of expressing and finding truth did more harm than good to the religious aspect of the society. She took the example of a satire cartoon called Charlie Hebdo which became an issue of debate. 

In her research, Astuti aimed to answer  2 (two) questions. First, how freedom of speech and religion got mixed and tangled in innuendoes or satire. Second, how the government created the boundary concerning religion-related satire based on the proportionality test for Indonesians as religious issues were easily misused and resulting in violence. 

“As a conclusion, religious innuendos or satire as an expression should be restricted in the case of blasphemy based on the proportionality contained in Article 28J Paragraph (2) of the constitution. It (the restriction) considers the contain and purpose of the innuendoes, writer’s role, political context while respecting the ethics, races, and others. That the sensitive issue among the religious community in Indonesia and restriction of those expressions should be regulated in laws to prevent the misunderstanding of religion-related satire and causing it to be blasphemous in the Court’s decision,” she explained.  

On a side note, the international symposium would be held on 15-16 September 2021 using the hybrid method (virtual and on-site) in Bandung, West Java. Previously, the Court had hosted similar programs: 2017 ICCIS in Solo, 2018 ICCIS in Yogyakarta, and 2019 ICCIS in Bali. Due to the pandemic, the program was halted in 2020. ICCIS itself was a global academic forum held annually to discuss the matters, ideas, and challenges of constitutional law, human rights, and democracy. This year it focused on religious issues in the context of constitutional rights. The Center of Case Research of the Constitutional Court opened the chance for academics to send out their articles and selected articles would publish in the Court’s journal called Constitutional Review.

Source: https://en.mkri.id/news/details/2021-09-16/Questioning+Constitutionalism+of+Religious+Freedom+and+Fighting+Extremism+and+Terrorism