Roy Suryo's Continued Trial Briefly Delayed by Power Outage
The continued trial of defendant Kanjeng Raden Mas Tumenggung Roy Suryo Notodiprojo, known as Roy Suryo, was briefly disrupted when the courtroom suddenly plunged into darkness due to a power outage.
The agenda for today’s hearing was for the Public Prosecutor to present their response to the objections raised by Roy Suryo’s legal team. Roy Suryo previously faced charges of slander and defamation against the 7th President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokument).
“In accordance with the postponement of the trial last week, today the Public Prosecutor’s opinion regarding the resistance from the defendant’s legal team is ready,” stated the presiding judge at the East Jakarta District Court on Monday (5/10/2026).
“Ready, Your Honour,” replied the prosecutor.
As the prosecutor began reading the response to the motions filed by Roy Suryo’s counsel, the courtroom suddenly went dark and the speakers failed due to the power outage. The judge briefly suspended the proceedings. Shortly thereafter, the judge requested that the prosecutor continue reading the response despite the dark conditions and lack of audio amplification.
After several minutes, the lights returned once power was restored, allowing the prosecutor to proceed. During the reading, the Public Prosecutor (JPU) urged the judge not to accept the defence’s motion, which argued ‘error in objecto’ and referenced previous pretrial rulings.
“The arguments from the defendant’s legal team do not constitute valid grounds for objection as regulated under Article 206, paragraph 1 of Law Number 20 of 2025 regarding the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP), as these arguments pertain to pretrial matters that are no longer relevant to the current case,” the prosecutor stated.
The Charges Against Roy Suryo
Previously, Roy Suryo was charged with slander and defamation against the 7th President, Joko Widodo. Prosecutors allege that Roy Suryo disseminated false information regarding Jokowi’s university degree.
The Public Prosecutor charged Roy with defamation, slander, and violations of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law. The prosecution stated the case began on 26 March 2025, when Jokowi was presented with two YouTube uploads and one post on the social media platform X, which were deemed to attack his honour.
“The three social media posts, consisting of two YouTube videos and one post on X, attacked the honour and reputation of witness Ir H Joko Widodo, primarily accusing him of possessing a forged Bachelor’s degree,” the prosecutor stated during the indictment reading.
“The uploads included the YouTube account @EggiSudjanaChannel titled ‘Consistent TPUA Disclosure of Fake Degree’, and the X account @DokterTifa titled ‘ERA AI: All Fake Degrees Will Be Revealed in Seconds’,” the prosecutor added.
Jokowi subsequently contacted his legal counsel regarding the matter. Following this, Jokowi’s lawyers held a press conference to refute the allegations. Gadjah Mada University (UGM) also held a press conference, confirming that Jokowi was a registered student at UGM and had successfully graduated.
The prosecutor noted that Roy’s actions caused immaterial loss to Jokowi as his reputation was tarnished. “Furthermore, there were parties who joined in accusing witness Ir H Joko Widodo of using a fake Bachelor’s degree to meet the requirements for previous public office positions, namely Mayor of Solo, Governor of Jakarta, and the 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia,” the prosecutor noted.
The prosecution stated that the Bachelor’s degree analysed by Roy using the Error Level Analysis (ELA) method did not originate from the legitimate owner, Jokowi. The prosecutor argued that Roy failed to verify or seek permission from Jokowi before disseminating the documents.
“Additionally, there was no effort by the defendant to verify, confirm, or request permission from witness Ir H Joko Widodo as the legitimate owner of the document, meaning the Electronic Information and/or Electronic Documents used as the basis for the defendant’s analysis were accessed without authorisation,” the prosecutor concluded.
As a result of his actions, Roy is charged with violating Article 433, paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 441, paragraph (1) of Law Number 1 of 2023 regarding the Criminal Code, subsidiarity of Article 35 in conjunction with Article 51, paragraph (1) of the ITE Law Number 11 of 2008, in conjunction with Law Number 1 of 2026 regarding Criminal Penalties, and Article 32 in conjunction with Article 48, paragraph (1) of the ITE Law.