Pretrial Judge: Roy Suryo Now Has Defendant Status
A single judge at the South Jakarta District Court (PN Jaksel) has rejected the fourth pretrial motion filed by Roy Suryo. The judge stated that Roy Suryo now holds the status of defendant.
“Since the main case was transferred by the public prosecutor to the East Jakarta District Court and has been registered, the authority over the case has since shifted to the East Jakarta District Court and the petitioner’s status has changed to that of defendant,” said sole judge I Ketut Darpawan while reading the verdict at the South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday (26/8/2026).
In this fourth motion, Roy Suryo challenged the legality of the travel ban preventing him from going abroad. The judge considered Roy’s approach of filing pretrial motions one by one after the main case had been transferred to the court to be a mistake.
“Considering that the judge is of the opinion that Article 163 paragraph 1 letter e means that a pretrial examination can only postpone the commencement of the main case examination if the main case is transferred while the pretrial process is ongoing,” the judge said.
The judge assessed that Roy Suryo consciously disregarded his legal rights before the case file was declared complete. Roy was said not to have used his right to file a pretrial motion from the time he was named a suspect on 7 November 2025 until the case file was declared complete (P21) on 30 April 2026.
“The judge is of the opinion that the petitioner’s attitude is a form of conscious neglect of his legal rights, and at the same time demonstrates the petitioner’s readiness to defend himself in the main case examination,” the judge stated.
The judge declared that Roy Suryo’s objections regarding evidence could be tested in the main trial at the East Jakarta District Court. The judge considered that Roy’s legal interests would not be harmed if the evidentiary process took place in the main trial.
“Because the examination of the sufficiency and quality of evidence has now become the authority of the panel of judges examining the main case, which will be conducted in a forum of higher quality,” the judge explained.
Based on these considerations, the judge rejected Roy Suryo’s fourth pretrial motion today.
“Adjudicating, rejecting the petitioner’s pretrial motion in its entirety,” said judge I Ketut Darpawan.
For context, this is Roy Suryo’s fourth pretrial motion. Previously, in the first motion, a South Jakarta District Court judge partially granted Roy’s motion regarding the procedures for the search, arrest and detention. However, that ruling was declared not to affect the main case.
In the second motion, Roy challenged his suspect status, but the judge rejected the request as it was deemed irrelevant. In the third motion, Roy demanded compensation from the Metro Jaya Police. However, the judge declared the motion inadmissible due to a formal defect because Roy did not include the Minister of Finance as a respondent.
In this case, Roy Suryo and Tifauzia Tyassuma, also known as Dr Tifa, have been named suspects in the defamation case concerning the diploma of the 7th President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). The case files for both have been transferred to the East Jakarta District Court, but the main trial has not yet commenced as it awaits the outcome of this series of pretrial motions.