South Jakarta District Court judge I Ketut Darpawan partially granted Roy Suryo's pretrial petition on Tuesday, July 7, declaring that searches, the arrest, and detention carried out by the Jakarta Metropolitan Police (Polda Metro Jaya) were unlawful. The ruling in case No. 99/Pid.Pra/2026/PN JKT.SEL delivers a procedural victory while Roy's suspect status remains fully in force.

The judge rejected Roy's requests for rehabilitation of reputation and compensation, and affirmed that procedural defects in the forced measures do not cancel the investigation file. Roy still faces defamation and libel charges tied to allegations that the diploma of Indonesia's seventh president, Joko Widodo, is fake; his main trial is scheduled to continue at the East Jakarta District Court.

What made the arrest procedurally flawed?

The judge found that the search warrant was issued to gather evidence but was used in practice as an instrument of arrest. Search Warrant No. SP.Dah.Rumah.Tap/373/VI/Res.1.24./2026, dated June 18, 2026, and the detention order dated June 19, 2026, were both declared invalid.

The subjective conditions for detention were also found unmet. Roy had been on mandatory reporting since November 2025, almost eight months, and never missed an appearance. When he was forcibly picked up alongside Dr. Tifauzia Tyassuma on June 19, 2026, one day after his case file was declared complete (P21), the judge regarded detaining someone with that compliance record as disproportionate.

Why didn't the suspect status fall too?

A pretrial petition (praperadilan) is a legal mechanism to challenge the lawfulness of investigators' actions, covering arrests, detentions, and searches. It does not touch the basis for the suspect designation itself. Defects in forced measures void those actions; the suspect status and the investigation file rest on a separate legal foundation.

Roy is already moving on that front. His defense lawyer, Abdul Gafur Sangadji, said a second pretrial petition had been filed before Tuesday's ruling was read out. "Yesterday we already filed a new pretrial petition to challenge the lawfulness of the suspect designation under Article 32 of the ITE Law," Sangadji said. The first hearing is scheduled for Friday, July 10, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. local time at the South Jakarta District Court.

Article 32 of the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (ITE Law), which the defense is contesting, covers the unlawful modification, addition, transmission, destruction, transfer, or concealment of electronic information. Several observers have argued the article's wording is overly broad. If the second petition succeeds, Roy's suspect designation could be voided even as the main trial continues in East Jakarta.

Roy said he would not stop after Tuesday's ruling. "Don't forget, we will keep fighting when Friday comes, and there will be a second pretrial," he told reporters after the hearing. He added that he is ready for the main trial: "Today we concluded the pretrial in South Jakarta. We will also follow the main case later in East Jakarta."

Metro Jaya Police and the nebis in idem question

Polda Metro Jaya said it is ready to face the second pretrial. The police legal division head, Senior Commissioner Abrianto Pardede (Kombes Pol), responded briefly. "No problem. We know that a pretrial is the right of anyone who feels their rights have been violated or harmed by arbitrary actions of law enforcement," he said.

Behind that statement lies a legal argument that could become a key objection: a pretrial cannot be filed repeatedly for the same object and grounds. The question Friday's hearing will test is whether the judge treats "suspect designation" as a distinct object from the "arrest and detention" already ruled on Tuesday. That distinction is likely the first point of contention before the court reaches the substance of the petition.

Beyond the two pretrial petitions, Roy has filed a civil lawsuit for unlawful conduct (perbuatan melawan hukum) against Lechumanan, one of the complainants in the Jokowi diploma case, at the North Jakarta District Court under case register No. 457/Pdt.G. The civil route opens the possibility of compensation claims outside the pretrial mechanism.

Tuesday's ruling did not cancel the investigation file, so Polda Metro retains the authority to issue a new detention order that meets procedural requirements. Whether that step is taken before Friday's hearing will determine whether Roy is detained again in the near term.