Nadiem Appeal Hearing Heats Up, Former Attorney General Raises Prosecution Service's Duty
Former Attorney General of the Republic of Indonesia for the 1999–2001 period, Marzuki Darusman, has highlighted the legal process in the Chromebook procurement case involving former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Mendikbudristek) Nadiem Anwar Makarim.
Marzuki assessed that the Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) has an ethical responsibility to re-evaluate its prosecution position if the facts revealed during the trial no longer support the case being brought.
The statement was made by Marzuki after attending the appeal hearing for the Chromebook procurement case. His presence was said to be to provide moral support to Nadiem and his family.
“The government side, the prosecution side, has certainly carried out the investigation and prosecution carefully. But if it turns out in the trial that the government’s position cannot be maintained, then it is in fact the duty of the Attorney General’s Office to acquit. And that is something that serves as an ethical guideline for the Prosecution Service,” said Marzuki, quoted on Friday, 28 August 2026.
Marzuki stressed that his view was not a form of pre-judgement of the ongoing case. According to him, the legal process must provide room for law enforcement officials to re-evaluate the prosecution if the trial presents facts that differ from the initial assumptions.
He considered the courage to make corrections to be part of the ethical responsibility of law enforcement institutions in ensuring the judicial process proceeds based on facts.
Scrutiny of Nadiem’s case also emerged from the testimony of Forensic Accounting Expert, Dr. Mohamad Mahsun, during the trial.
Mahsun questioned the methodology used in calculating state losses. He considered that the calculation used a cost-based approach or recalculation without adequate research and justification regarding why market prices were not used as the main reference in determining fair prices.
“When the audit results for calculating state losses turn out to use a weak methodology, then the information produced from that audit cannot be used as a basis for decision-making. I am speaking on behalf of scientific methodology,” said Mahsun.
According to Mahsun, in calculating state losses using the price difference method, the auditor must first determine the fair price objectively.
He explained that the International Valuation Standards (IVS) place the market price approach as a priority, followed by the cost-based and income approaches. Meanwhile, the use of the cost approach requires proof that the market is inactive or inadequate to serve as a reference.