Judge Rules Roy Suryo Misused Pretrial Motion to Delay Main Trial
The judge at the South Jakarta District Court (PN Jaksel) has rejected Roy Suryo’s pre-trial motion concerning his status as a suspect in the defamation case over the diploma of Indonesia’s seventh president, Joko Widodo (Jokowi). The judge stated that filing a pre-trial motion after the case file had been transferred to court constituted an abuse of legal procedure.
“Considering that the judge is of the view that Article 163 paragraph 1 letter a means that a pre-trial examination can only postpone the start of the main case examination if the main case is transferred while the pre-trial process is still ongoing,” said judge I Ketut Darpawan as he read out the verdict at the South Jakarta District Court in Ragunan, South Jakarta, on Monday (20/7/2026).
“However, if the main case has already been transferred to court and only then are pre-trial motions filed one by one using Article 160 paragraph 3, then this must be regarded as an abuse of legal procedure,” the judge continued.
The judge stated that Roy was attempting to delay the main case examination. The judge held that the filing of the pre-trial motion was an effort to disrupt the main case examination and an abuse of the pre-trial process.
“Considering that the Petitioner’s action of filing a pre-trial motion regarding his designation as a suspect after the case was transferred, and after the first pre-trial had reached its concluding stage, is a clear form of an attempt to delay and disrupt the main case examination. According to the judge, this effort is a form of abuse of the pre-trial process,” he said.
The judge rejected Roy’s pre-trial motion regarding his suspect status in its entirety. The judge declared the pre-trial motion to be irrelevant.
“Considering that based on all the considerations set out above, the Petitioner’s pre-trial motion is no longer relevant, and it is therefore appropriate that it be rejected in its entirety,” the judge said.
Previously, the single judge at the South Jakarta District Court had partially granted Roy Suryo’s pre-trial claim regarding the search, arrest, and detention. The pre-trial judge stated that the ruling did not affect the main case.
For context, Roy Suryo and Tifauzia Tyassuma, also known as dr Tifa, were named suspects in the defamation case concerning the diploma of Indonesia’s seventh president, Joko Widodo (Jokowi). The case files of Roy and dr Tifa have been transferred to the East Jakarta District Court.
Dr Tifa’s trial has entered the agenda of responding to exceptions and is awaiting an interim ruling from the panel of judges. Meanwhile, Roy’s trial has not yet commenced because it was still awaiting the verdict on the pre-trial claim filed by Roy at the South Jakarta District Court.