Jokowi Camp: Not Surprised, Roy Suryo to Be Detained Soon

The legal counsel for Indonesia’s 7th President, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), Yakup Hasibuan, believes the case accusing Roy Suryo of spreading false diploma allegations is merely awaiting stage two. Stage two refers to the handover of a suspect and evidence from the police to the prosecutor’s office after the case file is declared complete (P-21).

This was conveyed by Yakup in response to Roy Suryo’s statements questioning the P-21 status in the matter. Yakup said the most important thing is not the debate about the P-21 form, but whether the case file has been declared complete by the prosecutor’s office.

“What we need to ascertain is whether the file is complete or not, and it is clear in the press release that the Director of General Criminal Investigation stated there are no further instructions required, which means the documents are complete and ready for trial,” Yakup said on CNN Indonesia TV’s Head to Head programme on Wednesday evening.

Yakup said his side would not be surprised if Roy Suryo is summoned by investigators in the near future to undergo stage two. He also alluded to the possibility of a detention. However, Yakup stated that this is entirely the authority of the investigators.

“We would not be surprised if soon there might be a summons for Mr Roy to carry out stage two or a detention; I don’t know, as this is perhaps indeed the authority of the investigators. We have also never pushed for a detention or anything, because that is purely the investigator’s authority,” he said.

Yakup is confident that the evidence gathered during the investigation process is sufficient to bring the case to trial. “Everything is crystal clear that the file is actually complete and meets the elements. That is what we believe, and based on the Director’s statement, everything is complete and ready for trial, meaning it is just a matter of time,” he said.

Polda Metro Jaya previously stated that the case files for Roy Suryo and Tifauziah Tyassuma, also known as Doctor Tifa, in the false diploma case against President Jokowi had been declared complete, or P-21, by the DKI Jakarta High Prosecutor’s Office.

“Thank God, the prosecutor has stated as of today that the case file we sent to the DKI High Prosecutor’s Office no longer requires the fulfilment of the deficiencies that we previously addressed,” said Polda Metro Jaya Director of General Criminal Investigation, Commissioner Iman Imanuddin, on Tuesday.

Iman conveyed that his party would soon carry out the stage two handover to the prosecutor’s office. Nevertheless, Iman could not yet confirm when the stage two handover would take place. After the stage two handover is conducted, the prosecutor will subsequently prepare the indictment and proceed with the trial process.

However, Roy assessed that the announcement of the P-21 status in his case was made by Polda Metro Jaya under duress. Roy said the information regarding P-21 emerged when the Director of General Criminal Investigation held a press conference to discuss another case. At that time, according to Roy, a question arose from the media regarding the development of the Jokowi diploma case.

According to him, at that time, there was no explicit mention of the P-21 status or a statement that the case file had been declared complete by the prosecutor. “So Mr Director answered, let us observe, he answered for only 57 seconds. There was no word P-21, no word complete. So the sentence was only that we are coordinating, then indeed there were words ‘no longer needed’ because it had already fulfilled,” he said.

According to Roy, if a case has been declared P-21 by the prosecutor’s office, there will be a letter that forms the basis of communication between the police investigator and the public prosecutor. He therefore questioned whether the letter already existed.

“If the police already have this letter from the prosecutor’s office, they would have certainly announced the date of its issuance. Then when the date of the second stage handover is. Until now, when Mr Director announced it on Tuesday, the 2nd of June, as of now, H+8, there is still no plan for stage two, even though this letter actually has a deadline of days,” he concluded.