Legal proceedings regarding the alleged defamation case involving former Minister of Youth and Sports, Roy Suryo, have entered a new chapter. The second round of the pretrial hearing was officially held at the South Jakarta District Court on Friday (10/7/2026), as a step by Roy Suryo's party to challenge the validity of his suspect designation.
In the lawsuit, Roy Suryo's legal team highlighted the application of Article 32 of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law used by Jakarta Metropolitan Police investigators. Abdul Gafur Sangadji, acting as defense counsel, emphasized that his team wishes to test the validity of the evidence underlying the legal status assigned to his client in the case involving fake diploma allegations against Indonesia's 7th President, Joko Widodo.
The defense team issued sharp criticism toward the investigators, describing the application of the article as mere 'entertainment' or a formality. They suspect that this legal process is not based on sufficient and strong preliminary evidence, but rather influenced by the identity of the reporting party, who is a former head of state.
Furthermore, Roy Suryo's legal team demanded that public prosecutors review and remove Article 32 from the indictment. This step was taken to ensure the case does not proceed with charges deemed irrelevant, while also testing the law enforcement's professionalism in applying two valid pieces of evidence in accordance with applicable legal provisions.
