Dissenting Opinion: Judge Rules Nadiem Makarim Had No Intent, Insufficient Evidence, and Should Be Acquitted

One of the five judges at the Corruption Court in the Central Jakarta District Court expressed a dissenting opinion, stating that defendant Nadiem Makarim should be acquitted in the alleged Chromebook corruption case. Judge Andi Saputra declared that Nadiem was not legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing the criminal acts as charged in either the primary or subsidiary indictments. ‘Therefore, the defendant Nadiem Anwar Makarim must be acquitted of all charges,’ Andi said while reading the dissenting opinion during the verdict hearing on Tuesday.

According to Andi, the evidence presented was insufficient to prove Nadiem’s involvement, as there was no clear correlation or causal link between the pieces of evidence. He also assessed that there was no proof of criminal intent (mens rea) or criminal act (actus reus) on Nadiem’s part that could serve as a causal connection or indication between a conflict of interest and corporate crime. Andi stated that Nadiem never ordered, either directly or indirectly, his subordinates—namely Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam, Mulyatsyah, and Sri Wahyuningsih—to commit acts of corruption.

‘Conversely, Ibrahim, Mulyatsyah, and Sri never provided any unlawful gifts to the defendant. Moreover, the defendant was also not proven to have intervened, directly or indirectly, with the procurement committee,’ he said. According to Andi, the policy for procuring laptops, the emergence of state losses, and the capital injection by Google into PT GoTo were three events that occurred close together but lacked a strong causal relationship. He opined that these events could not be concluded as the result of criminal acts, conflicts of interest, or influence peddling by Nadiem.

‘Because there is insufficient evidence of a meeting of minds between the defendant Nadiem and Mulyatsyah and Sri to commit a crime together, within the bounds of reasonable reasoning, the defendant was not involved in the criminal acts committed jointly by Mulyatsyah and Sri,’ Andi stated. Despite this, the majority verdict of the panel of judges found Nadiem Makarim guilty in the alleged corruption case related to the education digitalisation programme involving the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology for the 2019-2022 period.