July 3, 2026
JAKARTA – Health practitioner Tifauzia “Tifa” Tyassuma faced her first court hearing on Thursday in a defamation case stemming from allegations that former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s university diploma was fake, while former youth and sports minister Roy Suryo continued separate pretrial proceedings over the same controversy.
At the East Jakarta District Court, prosecutors alleged that Tifa had damaged Jokowi’s reputation through a series of social media posts and appearances on talk shows throughout 2025, in which she questioned the authenticity of his bachelor’s degree diploma.
“Among the 28 social media posts reviewed by Jokowi, five contained the defendant’s allegations that his bachelor’s degree diploma was fake,” a prosecutor told the three-judge panel during the livestreamed hearing.
Tifa was charged under the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law and the Criminal Code (KUHP), offenses that carry a maximum prison sentence of six years.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Tifa maintained that she had merely expressed a professional opinion after examining a photograph circulating online that was purported to show Jokowi’s diploma from Gadjah Mada University (UGM).
“I only commented on one aspect that falls within my expertise, namely the photograph. I used my knowledge of morphological anatomy to provide an explanation,” she said.
Tifa’s claims echoed similar allegations made by Roy, who is also a telematics expert, digital forensics analyst Rismon Sianipar, and several other figures, helping fuel a controversy that has periodically resurfaced since Jokowi’s reelection bid in 2019.
As the debate gained traction, Tifa frequently shared her views with her more than 222,000 followers on X and 71,000 followers on Instagram, where she describes herself as an epidemiologist, neuroscientist, health practitioner and public speaker.
She first gained national attention during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 for criticizing the government’s handling of the health crisis.
Tifa and Roy were detained by the Jakarta Police on June 19, marking a major escalation in the long-running dispute. Roy subsequently filed a pretrial motion at the South Jakarta District Court challenging the legality of his arrest.
Police officers escort former youth and sports minister Roy Suryo (center) into the South Jakarta District Prosecutor’s Office on June 22, 2026 after the Jakarta Police transferred him and health practitioner Tifauzia “Tifa” Tyassuma, along with evidence, for prosecution in a defamation case over allegations that former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s university diploma was fake. (Antara/Sulthony Hasanuddin)
As a result, proceedings in Roy’s defamation case have yet to begin pending the outcome of the pretrial process, which continued with another hearing on Thursday.
The controversy over Jokowi’s university diploma has spawned a string of legal battles, including a civil lawsuit in 2022 and multiple police reports, investigations and court proceedings involving several parties last year.
Despite a police review in July last year concluding Jokowi’s diploma was authentic, Roy and Tifa continued to question its legitimacy and challenged the former president to publicly display the original document.
Following Thursday’s hearing, Jokowi’s lawyer Yakup Hasibuan said his client was prepared to testify in court and present his diploma as evidence if required. The trial is scheduled to resume on July 9.