Hotman Paris Protests Use of His Videos by Nadiem Makarim's Team to Gain Public Sympathy
Lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea has criticised the former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, who is currently a defendant in a corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM). Hotman previously served as Nadiem’s lawyer before resigning during the ongoing legal process.
“Both parties might regret this; therefore, in the future, do not be stingy with lawyers. High-quality, heavyweight lawyers are expensive,” Hotman stated, as quoted from his Instagram account @hotmanparisofficial on Monday (18/5).
At the beginning of the case handling, Hotman stated that he had prepared two audits from the Audit Board of Indonesia (BPK) which concluded that the prices were fair and that there were no state losses in the Chromebook and CDM procurement for the 2020-2022 fiscal years. “I found those two audits and even sent letters to the BPK, and they acknowledged they were their products,” Hotman said.
“But why, after the trial, is there a new BPK audit claiming that Chromebook prices have risen and are unreasonable? How can the figures be different? The figures from the 2020, 2021, and 2022 audits are the same, and the current audit is for the same Chromebooks. Why are the previous and current BPK audits for this same project different?” he continued.
In his statement, Hotman also criticised Nadiem’s media team for continuing to use videos of him from when he was still acting as Nadiem’s legal counsel. The videos in question feature Hotman’s intention to speak with President Prabowo Subianto regarding the case involving Nadiem.
“Nadiem Makarim’s media team, why are videos of me from when I was his legal counsel about 5-6 months ago being used now to attract public sympathy? Specifically, the video where I expressed my desire to meet the President to explain the case, which the media team is now framing as ‘Hotman challenging Prabowo’,” Hotman said.
He clarified that he had no intention of challenging Prabowo. Hotman stated he only wished to explain the Chromebook and CDM procurement issues alleged by prosecutors against Nadiem. “That is not true. I never intended to challenge Prabowo. I wanted to meet him as a friend; my client trusts my legal opinion, so I endeavoured to meet him, but that was when I was still Nadiem’s lawyer. I know Prabowo is very intelligent, but why is this being used against me now that I am no longer his counsel? The media team should stop using those videos; I am no longer Nadiem’s lawyer,” he concluded.
The Public Prosecutor of the Attorney General’s Office has demanded that the Jakarta Corruption Court judges sentence Nadiem Anwar Makarim to 18 years in prison and a fine of Rp1 billion, with a subsidiary of 190 days in prison. The prosecution also demands that Nadiem pay restitution amounting to Rp809,597,125,000 (Rp809.5 billion) and Rp4,871,469,603,758 (Rp4.8 trillion), representing assets of the defendant that are disproportionate to his legitimate income and suspected to originate from corruption. If the restitution is not paid, it will be replaced by an additional 9 years in prison. The prosecution stated that the former Minister of Education and Culture under the era of Indonesia’s 7th President, Joko Widodo, has been proven to have caused state financial losses in the Chromebook and CDM procurement for the 2020-2022 fiscal years.