{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1696033,
        "msgid": "ibrahim-arief-reveals-request-to-make-upward-statement-arrested-after-refusing-1777013619",
        "date": "2026-04-23 15:26:05",
        "title": "Ibrahim Arief Reveals Request to Make \"Upward Statement\", Arrested After Refusing",
        "author": "Jessi Carina",
        "source": "KOMPAS",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Legal",
        "summary": "In a corruption trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court, former Ministry of Education technology consultant Ibrahim Arief disclosed being pressured by an intermediary, likely a law enforcement officer, to fabricate a statement implicating higher authorities in a procurement scandal to avoid case expansion. He refused the demand, choosing honesty over self-preservation, and explicitly denied receiving any directives from Education Minister Nadiem Makarim or his superior Najeela Shihab regarding the procurement process. This revelation underscores potential interference in the investigation into alleged irregularities in Chromebook purchases.",
        "content": "<p>JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Former Technology Consultant in the Ministry of\nEducation, Culture, Research, and Technology environment, Ibrahim Arief,\nclaimed he was once contacted by someone to create an \u201cupward statement\u201d\nso that his case would not be expanded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen on 24 June 2025, I was contacted by an information intermediary\nwho verbally conveyed that he was asked by someone in the ongoing\ninvestigation process to tell me to agree, I quote, \u2018to make a statement\npointing upwards\u2019 and if I refused, the case would be \u2018expanded by us\u2019,\u201d\nsaid Ibrahim while reading his personal plea in the trial at the Jakarta\nCorruption Court, Thursday (23\/4\/2026).<\/p>\n<p>Ibrahim, alias Ibam, said this message was received when he was still\na witness.<\/p>\n<p>Two weeks after his house was searched, Ibam was summoned and gave\nhis statement as a witness for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>This intermediary also conveyed a statement of pity for Ibam.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease tell him, I feel sorry for Mas Ibam, when we searched his\nhouse I could see the piled-up medicines and he is sickly,\u201d said Ibam,\nimitating the intermediary\u2019s words.<\/p>\n<p>This sentence of pity convinced him that the message sender was one\nof the investigators who participated in searching his house at the end\nof May 2025.<\/p>\n<p>He realised that at that time he was given a choice: lie to save\nhimself or tell the truth but risk being criminalised.<\/p>\n<p>Ibam chose not to corner Nadiem as the Minister of Education,\nCulture, Research, and Technology and his superior at the PSPK\nFoundation, Najeela Shihab.<\/p>\n<p>Najeela was the person who encouraged Ibam to meet with Google\nrepresentatives who wanted to introduce the Chromebook product.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never received any instructions from Nadiem Anwar Makarim or\nNajeela Shihab to direct the procurement,\u201d said Ibam.<\/p>\n<p>A few days later, Ibam was contacted again by the intermediary and\nconveyed his refusal to fulfil the previous request.<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ibrahim-arief-reveals-request-to-make-upward-statement-arrested-after-refusing-1777013619",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}