Law Minister Says No Issue if Judges Ignored Nadiem

Minister of Law Supratman Andi Agtas has stated there is no problem if the panel of judges did not ask defendant Nadiem Anwar Makarim for his response to the verdict handed down in his trial. He explained that both the defendant and the public prosecutor automatically have seven days to pursue legal remedies against the ruling. ‘Whether asked or not, the defendant has time to state the next legal step,’ Supratman said when met in Jakarta on Friday. Previously, Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra invited the Judicial Commission and the Supreme Court’s Supervisory Body to examine the judges’ conduct in Nadiem’s case. After reading out the verdict on Tuesday, the panel of judges immediately left the courtroom without giving Nadiem the opportunity to state his position on the sentence. ‘Please, let the Judicial Commission or the Supreme Court Supervisory Body study whether there was an ethical violation in the proceedings or not,’ Yusril said when met in Depok, West Java, on Thursday. He noted that in judicial practice, it is customary for the panel of judges to give the defendant a chance to declare their stance and ask whether they accept the verdict or will appeal. Spokesperson for the Central Jakarta District Court Muhammad Firman Akbar asserted there is no issue if the panel of judges did not question defendant Nadiem Anwar Makarim about his response to the verdict in the alleged Chromebook corruption case. He said the defendant’s rights remain intact within the period stipulated by law to state whether they accept the decision, need time to consider, or will appeal. ‘Actually, in judicial practice it is not a problem if that is not asked,’ Firman told reporters in Jakarta on Thursday. In the case of alleged corruption in the education ministry’s digitalisation programme involving the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management for 2019–2022, Nadiem was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty. In addition to the prison term, the former Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology for the 2019–2024 period was also fined Rp1 billion, subsidiary to 190 days imprisonment, and ordered to pay restitution of Rp809.59 billion, subsidiary to five years imprisonment. The restitution was imposed after Nadiem was proven to have received Rp809.59 billion originating from PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa through PT Gojek Indonesia. He stated that most of PT AKAB’s funds came from a Google investment worth 786.99 million US dollars. In the case, Nadiem was proven to have abused his authority, causing state losses of Rp1.56 trillion. The corruption allegedly included implementing the procurement of information and communication technology-based learning tools in the form of Chromebook laptops and CDM for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 fiscal years, which did not comply with procurement planning and principles. The founder of a technology company was found to have committed the acts together with three other defendants who had been sentenced in separate trials, namely Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam, Mulyatsyah and Sri Wahyuningsih, as well as Jurist Tan, who remains at large. Nadiem was therefore proven to have violated criminal provisions stipulated in Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended and supplemented by Law Number 20 of 2001, in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.