Rismon Revises Findings: No Irregularities Found in Jokowi's Diploma
The controversy surrounding Jokowi’s diploma has entered a new phase. Rismon Sianipar, who previously believed the former President of Indonesia’s diploma was inauthentic, has now revealed his latest findings. According to Rismon, these findings were obtained after conducting further research on Joko Widodo’s UGM diploma.
According to Rismon, following this further research, no irregularities were found regarding the authenticity of the document. This conclusion was reached after he reviewed the research methodology he had previously written about in his book Jokowi’s White Paper.
Rismon stated that over the past approximately two months he has continued independent study by re-examining the methodology he used in the book. According to him, the majority of the book’s content—approximately 480 pages out of more than 700 pages total—contained explanations of the research methodology written independently without connection to other authors such as Roy Suryo or Tifauzia Tyassuma, known as Doctor Tifa.
Rismon, Roy Suryo, and Doctor Tifa have consistently stated that Jokowi’s UGM diploma is not authentic. All three have been designated as suspects in a defamation and hate speech case related to allegations of a fraudulent diploma, which was reported by Jokowi to the Jakarta Metro Police headquarters last year.
They face charges under Articles 310 and/or 311 of the Criminal Code, as well as Articles 32(1) read together with 48(1), 35 read together with 51(1), 27A read together with 45(4), and/or 28(2) read together with 45A(2) of the Information and Electronic Transactions Law.
In this further research, Rismon identified several features on Jokowi’s analogue diploma that were displayed during the court hearing, including watermarks and embossing. He then compared these findings with photographs of the diploma posted on social media by an account belonging to Dian Sandi Utama, as well as with comparison documents from graduates of the same year at UGM.
“Based on my further research, I state that there are indeed watermarks and embossing that are consistent with the documents I saw during the special court hearing,” Rismon said when met by journalists after meeting with Jokowi at his residence in Sumber, Banjarsari District, Solo, Central Java, on Thursday afternoon, 12 March 2026.
He explained that no hologram was found on the diploma because during that graduation period UGM had not yet used this feature as a document security measure. Rismon also mentioned that he had compared the watermark and embossing patterns with other documents from the same year and found consistency in their shape and location.
Additionally, he re-examined the issue regarding the stamp imprint trajectory that was previously thought to be invisible in digital photographs of the diploma. According to him, the absence of this element in images circulating on social media was caused by limitations in the analytical variables he had previously used.
Rismon acknowledged that in his initial research he had not included geometric variables such as rotation, translation, and lighting in the digital image analysis process. After these variables were incorporated in the reconstruction of the latest research, certain elements on the document, including colour and stamp marks, could reappear.
“The fatal error I made was not involving geometric operations such as rotation, translation, and lighting in the previous analysis,” he said.
He stated that the results of the latest research were submitted to the Police Region (Polda) Metro Jaya investigators approximately a week ago. Rismon believed that these findings should be presented openly as a form of scientific responsibility by a researcher, even though they could potentially draw criticism from various parties.
According to him, research must be based on methodology that is academically accountable, rather than merely narrative or opinion. “The conclusion of my latest research is that there are no irregularities regarding the authenticity of President Jokowi’s diploma,” Rismon said.
Rismon also stated that his visit to Jokowi’s residence on Thursday, 12 March 2026 was intended to deliver an apology directly, not only to those involved but also to the public. He viewed this stance as part of a researcher’s scientific responsibility when finding new results that differ from previous conclusions.