Former Nadiem Aide Reveals He Was Angry and In Tears When Questioned by Prosecutors

Former director of SMP at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Mendikbudristek) Mulyatsyah has spoken about why he was angry and cried when questioned by prosecutors in connection with the alleged corruption case over Chromebook laptop procurement. He said he was surprised because no one told him about Permendikbud No. 11 of 2020, which governs the operating system for devices under the Special Allocation Fund (DAK) Physical Education for the 2020 fiscal year, covering PAUD, SD, SMP, SMA, SKB, SLB, and SMK. Saudara tahu tidak, karena sebuah anomali kalau saya. Terdakwa ini sebelumnya di bulan Februari ada menerbitkan Permendikbud Nomor 11 Tahun 2020 tentang Petunjuk Operasional Dana Alokasi Khusus (DAK) fisik Bidang Pendidikan, yang sistem operating-nya bukan Chrome, tapi Windows 10. Bisa Saudara beri penjelasan? I know at the time of the examination and I was very angry. But I cannot be angry at anyone, because I am a regional person who has struggled and worked well, especially as a teacher. I taught at a senior high school for 10 years. So my career started as a teacher. A teacher speaks truth and the heart aligns with the actions, Mulyatsyah replied. He said he was shocked when questioned about Permendikbud No. 11 and became angry because no one had informed him about the Regulation. “When I was asked by investigators about Permendikbud 11, I was taken aback. There is Permendikbud even though its focus is on the DAK, but if we knew about it, perhaps we would have been more technically prepared to avoid clashes,” he added. He said he cried and became angry because, for the first time, he felt ignorant of his duties. The prosecutors then probed a virtual meeting with Nadiem on June 5, 2020. “In the Zoom Meeting on June 5 attended by the Defendant, was Permendikbud 11 of 2020 not mentioned?” the prosecutor asked. “No, because the context of the Zoom Meeting on June 5 was about technical program matters,” Mulyatsyah replied. In addition to being a former SMP director, Mulyatsyah is described as the head of the Technical Team for Review of the Technical Needs Assessment for ICT Learning Tools in primary and secondary education. In this case, Nadiem is charged with corruption in relation to the Chromebook procurement during his tenure as Mendikbudristek. The project is alleged to have caused a state loss of Rp 2.1 trillion. Besides Nadiem and Mulyatsyah, Sri Wahyuningsih, a former Director of the Elementary School Directorate General for Early Childhood, Basic Education, and Middle Education from 2020-2021, and Ibrahim Arief (Ibam), a former Kemendikbudristek consultant, are also defendants in the case.