Anti-Corruption Award Lightens Sentence for Mulyatsyah, Defendant in Chromebook Case

JAKARTA - The sentence for Mulyatsyah, a former official from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemdikbudristek) during Nadiem Makarim’s tenure, was lighter than the prosecutors’ demand because Mulyatsyah had previously received an anti-corruption award.

“The defendant has served as a civil servant for decades with a good track record and once received a regional corruption-free award in 2019,” stated the Chief Judge, Purwanto S Abdullah, during the trial at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court, on Thursday (30/4/2026).

Mulyatsyah was sentenced to 4.5 years because the judges considered that he had never been convicted before, was cooperative during the trial process, and Rp 500 million had been seized to be counted as replacement payment.

However, the panel also considered several aggravating factors.

The defendant’s actions were deemed not to support the anti-corruption, collusion, and nepotism eradication programme, and caused significant losses to the state.

“The defendant’s actions were carried out in the education sector, which directly impacts the quality of Indonesian children’s education,” he explained.

In its verdict, the panel of judges stated that Mulyatsyah was not proven guilty on the primary charge but was found guilty on the subsidiary charge, namely committing corruption jointly.

“Imposing a prison sentence on the defendant of 4 years and 6 months and a fine of Rp 500 million,” said the judge.

If the fine is not paid, it will be replaced with imprisonment for 120 days. The panel also imposed an additional penalty of an obligation to pay replacement money of Rp 2.28 billion.

This amount has been reduced by money seized from several parties, namely Jumeri, Hamid Muhammad, and Sutanto, totalling Rp 725 million.

If the replacement money is not paid within one month after the decision gains legal force, the defendant’s assets may be seized and auctioned by the prosecutor.

If insufficient, it will be replaced with imprisonment for two years.

The panel of judges also determined that the detention period already served by the defendant is fully deducted from the imposed sentence and ordered the defendant to remain detained.

For evidence in the form of documents, some are designated for use in another case in the name of the defendant Nadiem Anwar Makarim. In addition, the defendant is burdened with paying court costs of Rp 5,000.

In its considerations, the panel referred to Article 222 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code regarding the imposition of court costs, as well as Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law No. 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Corruption Crimes as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001, and other applicable legal provisions.