Citing Silfester Matutina Case, Lawyer Asks That Roy Suryo Not Be Detained

The legal counsel for Roy Suryo and Tifauziah Tyassuma, also known as Doctor Tifa, has requested that the South Jakarta District Prosecutor’s Office (Kejari Jaksel) refrain from detaining the pair. Roy and Tifa are being transferred to the South Jakarta Prosecutor’s Office today, Monday (22/6), after which the authority over their detention rests with the prosecution. “We also hope that at the South Jakarta District Prosecutor’s Office, even though they have the authority to detain, that authority is not exercised. Because if an attempt to detain is made, it means the prosecutor’s office is also acting arbitrarily,” said Roy and Tifa’s lawyer, Ahmad Khozinudin, at Polda Metro Jaya on Monday.

Khozinudin raised the case of defamation and slander against former Vice President Jusuf Kalla involving Silfester Matutina. In that case, Silfester was sentenced to one year in prison on 30 July 2018, a ruling later upheld at the appeal level on 29 October 2018. At the cassation level, the panel of judges increased Silfester’s sentence to one year and six months in prison. However, to date, the cassation ruling has yet to be executed by the South Jakarta Prosecutor’s Office. “At the same prosecutor’s office, the South Jakarta District Prosecutor’s Office, there is a legally binding case we know of, Silfester Matutina, which has not been executed to this day. I think that will be a consideration for the South Jakarta District Prosecutor’s Office in choosing the authority regulated by law so as not to be considered arbitrary,” Khozinudin stated.

Khozinudin noted that the prosecutor’s office has the discretion to detain or not detain suspects after the transfer process. He said this was evidenced by the East Jakarta Prosecutor’s Office, which did not detain Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti after the transfer of their defamation case involving Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. “Exactly the same as the case of Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti, who are in a legal dispute with Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. The law enforcement process can certainly proceed without the need for detention, because the primary offence, the genus delicti, remains defamation and slander,” he said.

Polda Metro Jaya arrested Roy Suryo and Tifa on Friday (19/6) last week. The Director of Criminal Investigation at Polda Metro Jaya, Senior Commissioner Iman Imanuddin, explained that the arrest was part of the process of handing over the suspects and evidence from investigators to the DKI High Prosecutor’s Office. This step was taken after the case file was declared complete, or P-21, by the prosecution. “Furthermore, to ensure the presence and whereabouts of the suspects during this transfer process runs smoothly, investigators must confirm their presence,” Iman said. After their arrest, Roy and Tifa were taken to the Kramat Jati Police Hospital for a medical examination, where doctors recommended they undergo inpatient care to ensure their health remained stable.