Ibam Refuses to Accept 4-Year Prison Sentence
Former Information Technology Consultant for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam, is challenging the four-year prison sentence in the corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM). He has stated that he will file an appeal.
“We firmly state that the legal team will file an appeal within the seven-day deadline as stipulated by the applicable criminal procedure law in Indonesia. We are pursuing this to fight for true justice for our client,” said Ibam’s lawyer, Arfian Bondjol, during a press conference in Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta, on Wednesday (13/5/2026).
Arfian said his side still respects the legal process. However, he expressed disappointment and concern over the decision.
He appreciated the differing opinion (dissenting opinion) from two judges, which he deemed to provide a comprehensive assessment. He also intends to file a request for re-examination of witnesses at the Jakarta High Court.
“Once again, we extend our highest appreciation to member judge Andi Saputra and member judge Eryusman. The dissenting opinion was read by Judge Andi Saputra and was compiled based on three clusters of very comprehensive analysis,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Ibam stated that he will continue to seek justice. He claims to be innocent in this case.
“So this is very much in line with my goal of why I am striving so hard to seek justice, because I don’t want this to set a very bad precedent for the country where a consultant who has been proven not to receive anything, has no authority in the ministry, and as stated in the dissenting opinion, there is indeed no conflict of interest at all and so on,” said Ibam, who has been under city detention due to his health condition.
Four-Year Prison Sentence
Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam was sentenced to four years in prison. The judge stated that Ibam was guilty in the alleged corruption case of Chromebook and CDM procurement.
“Declares the Defendant Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam proven legally and convincingly guilty of committing the criminal act of corruption jointly as in the subsidiarity charge,” said the chief panel of judges, Purwanto S Abdullah, when reading the verdict at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court, Tuesday (12/5).
“Therefore, imposes a prison sentence on the Defendant Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam of four years,” added the judge.
Ibam was also fined Rp 500 million. If the fine is not paid, it will be replaced with 120 days of imprisonment.
This verdict is much lower than the prosecutor’s demand. Previously, Ibam was demanded 15 years in prison, a fine of Rp 1 billion subsidiarity 190 days of imprisonment. The prosecutor also demanded Ibam pay restitution of Rp 16.92 billion subsidiarity 7 years and 6 months in prison.
In this case, Nadiem and others were charged with corruption related to the procurement of Chromebook laptops during his tenure as Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. The project is said to have caused a state loss of Rp 2.1 trillion.
Prosecutors stated that the calculation of state losses of Rp 2.1 trillion came from the overpricing of Chromebooks amounting to Rp 1,567,888,662,716.74 (1.5 trillion). Then, the procurement of unnecessary and unbeneficial CDM amounting to USD 44,054,426 or equivalent to approximately Rp 621,387,678,730.00 (621 billion).
Besides Nadiem and Ibam, there are two other defendants in this case. They are Sri Wahyuningsih, former Director of Primary Schools in the Directorate General of Early Childhood Education, Basic Education, and Secondary Education from 2020-2021; and Mulyatsyah, former Director of Junior High Schools in the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology in 2020. Sri has been sentenced to four years in prison, while Mulyatsyah to 4.5 years in prison.
Attorney General’s Office Does Not Object to Ibam’s Appeal
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) stated that it does not object to the legal efforts taken by Ibam. The AGO views such legal efforts as the defendant’s right.
“Yes, please proceed, because that is indeed the defendant’s right,” said Deputy Head of the Special Crimes Investigation Team at the AGO, Ardito Muwardi, to reporters at the AGO Office in Jakarta, on Wednesday (13/5).
Ardito said that next, the prosecutors will study what Ibam will challenge. Currently, they are still waiting for the appeal filing.
“But of course, we are still waiting, we will study it again and we will still consider our stance,” he added.
The verdict for Ibam is lower than what was demanded by the prosecutors, namely a 15-year prison sentence. Ardito said that this will be reviewed again by the prosecutors.
“Well, because the verdict was just handed down yesterday, we are still discussing it and studying it to determine how we will respond,” he explained.