New Chapter in Jokowi's Diploma Case, Plaintiff Now an UGM Alumnus

President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi) diploma is once again being challenged in court. This time, the plaintiff is Sigit Pratomo, a lawyer from Klaten, Central Java, who is also an alumnus of the Faculty of Law at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM). Sigit filed a civil lawsuit at the Solo District Court. The lawsuit is registered under case number 101/Pdt.G/2026/PN Skt. The defendants include Jokowi, with UGM as co-defendant 1 and Metro Jaya Police as co-defendant 2. In the lawsuit, Jokowi is deemed to have acted unlawfully because he has never attended hearings and has never shown his original diploma in public or in court. The first hearing took place on Tuesday (5/5), with the agenda of summoning the parties. The hearing was presided over by the panel of judges led by Bayu Soho Rahardjo, along with two associate judges, Dian Erdianto and Ledis Meriana Bakara. At the first hearing, the principals did not attend and were represented by their legal counsel. However, co-defendant 2 did not appear without explanation. Subsequently, the Solo District Court panel of judges will summon co-defendant 2 again for the next hearing agenda. The plaintiff’s legal counsel, Dekka Ajeng Maharasri, stated that the focus of the lawsuit is not on whether Jokowi’s undergraduate diploma is authentic or not. Rather, it is solely to have Jokowi attend the hearing and display the UGM diploma he possesses. “The principle is that our lawsuit does not acknowledge Mr Jokowi’s diploma as authentic, but we want Mr Jokowi to attend the hearing and show the diploma. Regarding whether Mr Jokowi’s diploma is authentic or not, only the person concerned knows,” she said. Meanwhile, Jokowi’s legal counsel, YB Irpan, disagreed that Jokowi’s reluctance to show his original diploma in public or in court constitutes unlawful conduct. He argued that there is no court decision or order requiring him to do so. He assessed that this lawsuit does not need to be proven, as it is unfounded. This is because there is indeed no legal basis for Jokowi to show his diploma. Nevertheless, Irpan, representing Jokowi, respects the lawsuit filed by the plaintiff. This is because the content of the lawsuit does not contain any words or sentences that attack Jokowi’s honour. “In the formulation of the lawsuit, it appears polite. So there is no claim in the lawsuit that attacks Mr Jokowi’s personal honour, unlike previous lawsuits. We also respond in a tone and attitude that is humane,” he explained.