Lawyer for Roy Suryo Speaks Out After Client Reported, Calls Defamation Report Baseless
The legal counsel for Roy Suryo, Abdul Gafur Sangadji, has spoken out after his client was reported to the South Jakarta Metro Police for alleged defamation and slander by the Chairman of Gibranisti, Taufik Bilfaqih. Gafur assessed that the report lacks a strong basis. He even suspects the report is an attempt to disrupt the concentration of the legal team, which is currently filing a third pretrial motion at the South Jakarta District Court.
"We consider this might be an effort to disrupt our concentration. Because we have also filed a third pretrial motion," Abdul Gafur Sangadji told reporters on Thursday, 16 July 2026.
According to Gafur, the report filed against Roy Suryo lacks strong legal substance. He assessed that the accusation that Roy Suryo defamed the complainant is contrary to the situation experienced by his client. "Because this report that has been submitted, I am truly convinced it is a baseless report. A non-substantive report. This is just a disturbance," he said.
Gafur also emphasised that Roy Suryo actually feels he is the aggrieved party in the polemic regarding a doctoral degree at the State University of Jakarta (UNJ). "If the complainant says that Mas Roy slandered and defamed him regarding Mas Roy’s diploma, well, Mas Roy is actually the victim," he said.
Gafur further accused the complainant and several other parties of having discussed Roy Suryo’s academic affairs through podcasts. According to him, various such content was uploaded to digital platforms before eventually being deleted. He claimed Roy Suryo had already saved all the video recordings as evidence. "They forget that Mas Roy is an IT expert. A telematics expert. As soon as those videos they once uploaded were all downloaded by Mas Roy," he said. Gafur stated that videos deleted from YouTube channels can still be used as evidence because his client had secured them beforehand. He also assessed that the deletion of the videos does not eliminate the digital footprint that has been stored.