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View all search resultsCourt orders release of Jokowi degree challenger in pretrial ruling
The South Jakarta District Court has ordered the immediate release of Roy Suryo after the presiding judge found fault with his detention on technical grounds, as it was executed under a warrant for a raid and not an arrest.
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Sporting outcome: Roy Suryo (right), who served as youth and sports minister in 2013-2014, gives a thumbs-up on July 7, 2026, after a pretrial ruling in the defamation case pertaining to ex-president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s academic credentials at the South Jakarta District Court, which declared the Jakarta Police's detention of Roy as invalid. (Antara/Fauzan)
T
he South Jakarta District Court declared as invalid the arrest of former youth and sports minister Roy Suryo by the Jakarta Police in connection with the defamation case pertaining to the academic credentials of former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. .
Read out the ruling at the hearing on Tuesday, Sole Judge I Ketut Darpawan argued in his consideration that the Jakarta Police, as the defendant named in Roy’s pretrial motion, had used the raid warrant issued by the Tangerang District Court beyond its intended authority when officers arrested Roy in mid-June.
“The head of the Tangerang District Court authorized a raid on [Roy’s] house because the defendant claimed the house was being used to hide evidence. But in reality, the raid was intended to arrest the plaintiff,” Darpawan told the hearing, as quoted by Antara.
“Using a raid to arrest the plaintiff with unjustifiable reason is an arbitrary action,” the judge added, observing that Roy had been cooperative throughout the investigation.
Roy, who served as youth and sports minister during the second term of Jokowi’s predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was named as a suspect in the defamation case last November, months after the National Police had verified the authenticity of the former president’s university degree in May 2025.
Prior to his arrest in June, he had been reporting to the police as part of a compulsory obligation, which prompted Darpawan to deem that the reason for his detention was subjective.
Meanwhile, the judge rejected Roy’s petition to declare the investigation into him null and void as well as his request to restrict prosecutors from issuing an arrest warrant, saying this fell outside pretrial authority.
