Ibam to Appeal Four-Year Sentence, Dissenting Opinion Becomes "Ammunition"

JAKARTA - Former technology consultant for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam, will appeal the four-year prison sentence in the alleged corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebook-based laptops, on Wednesday (13/5/2026).

“That’s our ammunition in filing the appeal,” said Afrian Bondjol, when contacted by Kompas.com, on Wednesday (13/5/2026).

He assessed that many aggravating factors against his client did not align with the trial facts.

“And many expert and witness testimonies that we presented were not considered in the verdict,” he said.

He stated that they would not only file an appeal and appeal memorandum but also request that the case be re-examined at the Jakarta High Court.

“So we are not only stating the appeal and filing the appeal memorandum, where we will outline our objections. But we are also submitting a request for the case to be re-examined,” he emphasised.

“So later we will try to present witnesses again, present experts again, present evidence again that we presented in the first-instance trial,” he said.

“With the hope that the Appellate Panel of Judges will accept our legal arguments.”

Previously, the panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court finally sentenced Ibam to four years in prison.

“Imposing a sentence on the defendant Ibrahim Arif alias Ibam, therefore, with a prison sentence of 4 years and a fine of Rp500 million,” said the Chief Justice, Purwanto S. Abdullah, on Tuesday (12/5/2026).

The judge also stipulated consequences if the fine is not paid. Assets or income of the defendant will be seized and auctioned to settle the unpaid fine.

“If the proceeds from the seizure and auction of assets and income are insufficient or not possible to carry out the unpaid fine, it will be replaced with a prison sentence of 120 days,” he explained.