Glendy Dalope testifying at the hearing for case No. 317/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Talaud Island regent election results dispute, Tuesday (4/29/2025). Photo by MKRI/Fauzan.

---

JAKARTA (MKRI) — A certified true copy of diploma was verified in 2024 for the regional election candidacy requirement and was affirmed by SMA 1 Beo senior high school as the issuing education unit. The school had administered the national exams and issued a diploma for Welly Titah, as supported by the teachers and graduating class of 1984, who had provided statement that he was a student of SMA Swasta Lirung who took national exams and school exams administered by SMA Negeri 1 Beo.

The statement was made by Sidra Sofyan, member of the Talaud Island Regency Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) at the second hearing for case No. 317/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Talaud Island regent election results dispute on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.

Bawaslu found out that the original copy of the diploma had been burned in a fire, so the certified copy dated 1984 was a record owned by SMA Negeri 1 Beo. Based on this fact, Bawaslu agreed to terminate the case.

“We did not verify the original copies of all candidate pairs’ diplomas. [We] only visited the schools or institutions issuing the diplomas,” Sidra said before the justices on panel 1 relating to the allegation made by candidate pair number 2 Irwan Hasan-Haroni Mamentiwalo (Petitioners), who questioned Welly Titah’s diploma.

Also read: Fake Diploma, Bribes for Churchgoers in Talaud Island Regent Election

How to Verify Diploma?

Chief Justice Suhartoyo asked the General Elections Commission (KPU) as Respondent on the steps taken to ensure the validity of diplomas, as was the case with Welly Titah.

“The requirement is only to submit a photocopy. How to verify the validity of the photocopy of the diploma when the original cannot be shown? The certified true copy cannot be [verified] since it was destroyed by fire. If it existed, there should have been a certificate explaining that the original diploma was destroyed by fire. It shouldn’t be that the burnt diploma was certified, because certification is to certify that the photocopy matches the original, while [in this case] the original has been destroyed. It is irrelevant because certification is to certify that the photocopy matches the original. The original is no longer available, but the [copy] has been certified. It is better to provide a certificate of loss item. The data can be matched with the master register. For the KPU, this can be room for improvement, since there are cases on diplomas in regional election [results disputes],” said the chief justice.

 

Also read:

Civil Servants’ WhatsApp Group Sparks Talaud Island Election Dispute

Civil Apparatus’ Involvement in Talaud Islands Election Highlighted

Talaud Islands Election Faces Scrutiny Over TSM Violations

Vote Buying Proven, Court Orders a Revote in Essang District, Talaud Islands Regency

 

Petition for Case No. 317/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025

Respondent’s response

Statement by Relevant Party

Statement by Bawaslu

 

Author         : Sri Pujianti
Editor          : N. Rosi
PR               : Fauzan F.
Translator     : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

---