Roy Suryo’s Challenge Rejected by Court
The panel of judges at the East Jakarta District Court has rejected a challenge by Kanjeng Raden Mas Tumenggung Roy Suryo Notodiprojo, known as Roy Suryo, in a case involving alleged slander and defamation concerning the degree of Indonesia’s seventh president, Joko Widodo (Jokowi). The trial will proceed to the evidentiary stage.
“Having considered the matter, the court rules that the objection filed by defence counsel for the defendant, Kanjeng Raden Mas Tumenggung Roy Suryo Notodiprojo, is inadmissible,” presiding judge Christina Endarwati said at the East Jakarta District Court on Monday (19 October 2026).
The judge ordered the public prosecutor to continue examining the case and directed that court costs be deferred until the final ruling.
“Second, the court orders the public prosecutor to continue examining the case against Kanjeng Raden Mas Tumenggung Roy Suryo Notodiprojo named above. Third, court costs are deferred until the final ruling,” she said.
The charges against Roy Suryo
Roy Suryo was previously charged with slander and defamation of Jokowi. Prosecutors said he had spread false information about Jokowi’s degree.
The public prosecutor charged Suryo with alleged defamation, slander and offences under the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law. Prosecutors said the case began on 26 March 2025, when Jokowi was shown two YouTube posts and one post on social media platform X that were deemed to attack his honour.
“There were three social media posts: two videos on YouTube and one post on X that attacked the honour or good name of witness Ir H Joko Widodo, essentially alleging that his undergraduate degree certificate was forged,” the prosecutor said while reading out the indictment.
“The posts were a YouTube video on the @EggiSudjanaChannel account entitled ‘TPUA Consistent in Exposing a Fake Degree’, and a post on the @DokterTifa X account entitled ‘The AI Era: Any Fake Degree Will Be Exposed in Seconds’,” the prosecutor added.
Jokowi then contacted his legal team about the matter. After gathering information, his lawyers held a press conference to rebut Suryo’s allegations.
Gadjah Mada University (UGM) also held a press conference, stating that Jokowi was recorded as a student and had graduated from the university. Prosecutors said Suryo’s actions caused Jokowi non-material harm by damaging his reputation.
“Some parties even went on to accuse witness Ir H Joko Widodo of using a forged undergraduate degree to meet the requirements for his previous candidacies for public office, namely as Mayor of Solo, Governor of Jakarta and seventh President of the Republic of Indonesia,” the prosecutor said.
Prosecutors said the undergraduate degree document analysed by Suryo using the error level analysis (ELA) method did not come from its legitimate owner, Jokowi. They also said Suryo had neither verified the document nor sought Jokowi’s permission to publish it.
“Furthermore, the defendant made no attempt to verify or confirm the information, or to seek permission from witness Ir H Joko Widodo as the legitimate owner of the document. The electronic information and/or document used as the basis for the defendant’s analysis was therefore obtained and used without authorisation,” the prosecutor said.
Suryo was charged under Article 433(1) in conjunction with Article 441(1) of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code, with an alternative charge under Article 35 in conjunction with Article 51(1) of Law No. 11 of 2008 on Electronic Information and Transactions, as amended by Law No. 1 of 2026 on Criminal Penalty Adjustments, and Article 32 in conjunction with Article 48(1) of the ITE Law, as amended by the same law.