Pretrial Lawsuit from Dr. Richard Lee Rejected, Remains a Suspect

The sole judge presiding over the trial read the decision stating the court's inability to grant the petition from Richard Lee as the applicant. "Judging: Rejecting the applicant's pretrial petition in its entirety. Imposing court costs on the state in the amount of zero," he said when met at the South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday (11/2/2026).

With the rejection of this petition, the status of the suspect held by the 40-year-old man is declared legally valid. The investigation process related to the alleged violation of consumer protection and Health Law is ensured to continue to the next stage.

This legal issue began from a heated dispute between Richard Lee and Samira Farahnaz, who is more publicly known as "Doctor Detective" (Doktif). The conflict escalated after Doktif created content claiming that the laboratory test results of Richard Lee's beauty products did not match the promotional promises.

A contrasting atmosphere was visible in the courtroom just after the judge struck the gavel. Samira Farahnaz, who was present to hear the verdict, appeared very emotional. She immediately performed a prostration of gratitude outside the courtroom as an expression of her overflowing thankfulness and happiness at the judge's decision, which she considered fair.

Unlike the enthusiastic presence of the complainant, Dr. Richard Lee was nowhere to be seen in court. Until the verdict session ended, the doctor, who is also active as a YouTuber, chose not to show himself in front of the media or the panel of judges.

Previously, this pretrial lawsuit was filed by Richard Lee’s side at the end of January 2026. This legal step was taken as a form of resistance to test the validity of the suspect designation imposed on him by the investigators of the Metro Jaya Police.

The defeat in this pretrial hearing is certainly a heavy blow for the husband of Reni Effendi. The police now have a strong legitimacy to process the report related to the discrepancy between the promotional promise and the actual content of the doctor's beauty product.This case continues to attract sharp attention from netizens because it involves two influential figures in the beauty industry of the country. The public is now awaiting the continuation of the legal process that Richard Lee will undergo after his pretrial defense was declared collapsed by the court.