Jokowi Remains Silent Following Rismon's Apology
Digital forensics expert Rismon Hasiholan Sianipar, accompanied by his lawyer Jahmada Girsang, visited seventh President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo at his residence in Solo, Central Java, on Thursday, 12 March, in the afternoon. The visit aimed to apologise for his errors in conducting a scientific study regarding the authenticity of Widodo’s UGM degree certificate, which had previously been uploaded by Dian Sandi in April 2025.
However, following the meeting that lasted less than half an hour, Widodo emerged from his residence without making any statement to the media. He merely greeted dozens of journalists who had been waiting before entering his vehicle.
Meanwhile, advocate Jahmada Girsang, who accompanied Rismon Sianipar, stated that the meeting between his client and the seventh President occurred in a friendly atmosphere. The meeting was also intended to resolve the complaint filed at Metro Jaya Police headquarters on 30 April 2025.
“Now, what are the conditions? For that reason, I am here to explain, particularly regarding the mechanism of restorative justice (RJ). There must be mutual forgiveness,” said Jahmada. He added that Widodo respected both the reconciliation process and the legal process underway.
Jahmada emphasised that as legal counsel, his team had prepared a settlement concept to be followed up administratively. During the meeting, Rismon also expressed gratitude for the response given by the father of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
Rismon, who is a suspect in the case concerning allegations about Widodo’s degree, stated after the meeting at the residence that he felt compelled to apologise to Widodo for the controversy arising from the degree study written in the book Jokowi’s White Paper, co-authored with Roy Suryo and Doctor Tifa.
Two days before visiting the residence, he surprisingly acknowledged that Widodo’s UGM undergraduate degree in Forestry is genuine.
“So I need to apologise to Mr Widodo and his family,” he said.
Hurting the Family
Rismon acknowledged that the research or study regarding the degree had hurt Widodo and his family. However, after conducting a re-examination over approximately the past two months of the document that became a subject of public debate, he is now convinced that the degree certificate shown by Dian Sandi is authentic.
He recognised that his earlier findings, published in the book Jokowi’s White Paper, contained errors. The book was compiled together with telecommunications expert Roy Suryo and social media activist Tifauzia Tyassuma, known as Doctor Tifa. According to him, the errors stemmed from the analysis he conducted.
As an independent researcher, Rismon stated that corrections should be made when new and more complete data becomes available, including factors relating to rotation, translation, and resolution of the tested data.
He emphasised that a researcher must rely on scientific objectivity in presenting research conclusions. Therefore, every finding in scientific work must be based on objective data.
The analytical error he previously made concerned watermark and emboss elements on the degree certificate. According to him, there were variables on Widodo’s degree that were not previously identified accurately in the analysis regarding watermarks and emboss elements that indeed exist on the physical document.
In the re-examination, he stated he used a method similar to the previous research but added several technical variables such as rotation, translation, and lighting on the object of analysis.
Based on the results of the latest study, he concluded that the authenticity of Widodo’s degree certificate is no longer questionable from a digital forensics perspective. This finding simultaneously contradicts his own findings in the book Jokowi’s White Paper, despite using dozens of similar methodologies.
Rismon also plans to independently rewrite the contents of the book Jokowi’s White Paper. He acknowledged that this step could provoke various responses and criticism amid the ongoing controversy, and stated he is prepared to accept them.