Citizens Lawsuit Plaintiffs in Jokowi Degree Case Request Judicial Oath from Panel of Judges
Two plaintiffs in a citizens’ lawsuit (CLS) concerning the undergraduate degree in forestry from Gadjah Mada University belonging to Indonesia’s seventh president, Joko Widodo, have requested the Surakarta District Court panel of judges to administer a decisive oath to the defendants.
The request was made during a validation hearing or final supplementary evidentiary session held on Tuesday (10 March). The hearing was presided over by the Surakarta District Court panel of judges chaired by Achmad Satibi. However, the panel of judges did not immediately respond to the request during the proceeding.
Joko Widodo’s legal counsel, YB Irpan, argued that the plaintiffs’ request for a decisive oath lacked strong legal grounds. “The request for a decisive oath to be administered to the defendants is unfounded. The Supreme Court’s jurisprudence essentially states that a decisive oath is administered only when, during the examination of a dispute, there is an absence of evidence,” Irpan said.
According to him, the hearing actually contained evidence presented by both parties, meaning the conditions for administering a decisive oath were not met. During the hearing, the panel of judges also assessed that the supplementary evidence presented by the plaintiffs was still not sufficiently valid and required completion.
Meanwhile, the defendants, represented by Indonesia’s seventh president, Joko Widodo, also presented additional evidence in the form of a response letter from the Jakarta Metro Police regarding a request to borrow the original degree for presentation at the hearing. The letter contained a refusal to lend the undergraduate degree in forestry from Gadjah Mada University belonging to Widodo to be brought to court.
GROUNDS FOR DECISIVE OATH
On the other hand, the plaintiffs’ legal counsel, Andika Dian Prasetyo, asserted that the request for a decisive oath was made because throughout the proceedings the defendants were deemed not to have presented the primary evidence requested by the plaintiffs.
“Throughout this, only the plaintiffs have presented evidence at the hearing. Meanwhile, the production of evidence of Jokowi’s degree has never occurred. For this reason, we request that a decisive oath be administered,” Andika said after the hearing.
He explained that a decisive oath is one mechanism in civil procedural law that can be used when evidence is deemed not to have provided certainty.
According to Andika, through this mechanism the defendants can be asked to take an oath before the panel of judges regarding the truth of the substantive facts in the disputed case.
He stated that the decisive oath could be the final step to resolve the case pending at Surakarta District Court. “If that is done, then we will acknowledge it. However, if they do not dare to take that oath, then under civil procedure law, we will have won,” he said.
THE DEFENDANTS
In this CLS claim, the plaintiffs have sued not only Joko Widodo but also several other parties, namely the Rector of Gadjah Mada University, the Vice Rector of Gadjah Mada University, and the Chief of the Indonesian National Police.
They were included as defendants because they were deemed to have connections with the academic documents in question in the claim.
Meanwhile, the Surakarta District Court panel of judges has not yet made a decision regarding the request for a decisive oath submitted by the plaintiffs. The panel stated that it would consider the request together with all the case materials that have been presented during the proceedings.
The hearing for the citizens’ lawsuit case concerning the degree of Indonesia’s seventh president is scheduled to be held again next Tuesday. At the next hearing, the panel of judges will present its position on the request for a decisive oath submitted by the plaintiffs.