Jakarta – A group of non-governmental organizations hailed Monday the Constitutional Court's decision to remove articles dealing with defamation from the Criminal Code.

The National Alliance for Criminal Code Reform also urged the government not to include similar articles that ban insulting the president in the revision of the code.

"These articles, holdovers from the Dutch colonial era, have been used to stifle opposition," the coalition said in a press statement.

Insulting the president is no longer a crime as the Constitutional Court ruled last week that the defamation articles in the Criminal Code were unconstitutional.

However, the government team to amend the code has said the revised bill maintains sedition articles that could be used to charge suspects with defaming the president and vice president.

The coalition said such articles contradicted the Universal Declaration on Human Rights on free speech and the 1945 Constitution, which protects freedom of expression.