Judge: Roy Suryo's Pretrial Motion Cannot Be Used to Delay Main Trial
The Ministry of Religious Affairs seems beset by troubles.
A judge at the South Jakarta District Court (PN) has affirmed that the pre-trial motion filed by Roy Suryo in a case of alleged slander and defamation concerning the authenticity of the diploma of Indonesia’s 7th President, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), cannot be used as grounds to postpone the examination of the main case.
At the pre-trial ruling hearing held at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday, sole judge I Ketut Darpawan deemed the legal step taken by the petitioner as likely to obstruct the main court proceedings.
“Considering that the Petitioner’s action in filing a pre-trial motion regarding the suspect determination after the case files had been transferred, and after the first pre-trial had reached the conclusion stage, is a clear form of an attempt to delay and disrupt the examination of the main case,” said sole judge I Ketut Darpawan at the pre-trial ruling hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday (20 July).
According to the judge, the action constituted a form of abuse of the pre-trial mechanism.
In his deliberation, the judge also explained that Article 163 paragraph (1) letter a is construed as a provision that only permits a pre-trial to postpone the start of the main case examination if the case files have already been transferred to court while the pre-trial process is still ongoing.
Conversely, if the main case has first been transferred to court and a pre-trial motion is then filed in stages with reference to Article 160 paragraph (3), the judge considered such a step must be viewed as a form of abuse of legal procedure.
“Considering that, based on all the deliberations set out above, the Petitioner’s pre-trial motion is no longer relevant, and it is therefore proper that it be rejected in its entirety,” the judge said.
In the ruling, the South Jakarta District Court ultimately rejected the second pre-trial motion filed by Roy Suryo concerning his designation as a suspect in the alleged slander and defamation case regarding the authenticity of the diploma of Indonesia’s 7th President, Joko Widodo.
The pre-trial case was registered under case number 108/Pid.Pra/2026/PN JKT.SEL and focused on challenging the suspect status determination against Roy Suryo.
The second pre-trial hearing was presided over by sole judge I Ketut Darpawan.
Previously, Roy Suryo, through his motion, had asked the South Jakarta District Court to grant the second pre-trial motion he filed in connection with the alleged slander and defamation case.
Roy Suryo confirmed he would continue legal steps through a third pre-trial motion after his pre-trial motion concerning the suspect determination was rejected.
Roy Suryo’s lawyer, Refly Harun, said his side was in fact increasingly confident in the arguments submitted after hearing the expert testimony presented by the respondents.
A criminal law expert was presented by the Jakarta Metropolitan Police (Polda Metro Jaya) at the pre-trial hearing of Roy Suryo at the South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday (15 July).
In addition to highlighting the elements of Article 32 paragraph (1), Didit also gave his opinion on the contents of the police report that formed the basis of the investigation.
The Jakarta Metropolitan Police asked the South Jakarta District Court to reject Roy Suryo’s pre-trial motion. The police stated that the suspect determination in the alleged ITE Law violation case was supported by three valid pieces of evidence.
Roy Suryo and Tifauzia Tyassuma, known as Doctor Tifa, were scheduled to be moved promptly from the National Police Hospital in Kramat Jati to the Detention Centre (Rutan) of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police.