Nadiem Claims 'Body Swapping' Occurring in Law Enforcement Efforts Regarding His Case

JAKARTA — The former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Nadiem Makarim, has criticised the legal process regarding the alleged corruption case involving Chromebook procurement, suggesting the existence of ‘body swapping’ practices. Nadiem spoke while reading his plea (pleidoi) at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday (2/6/202<0xC2>6).

In his defence, Nadiem highlighted alleged irregularities in the investigation and trial processes. “This is where the process of ‘body swapping’ begins,” Nadiem stated before the panel of judges.

He further assessed that the handling of the case was heavily driven by interests in maintaining a public image of law enforcement success. “For the sake of achievement, for the sake of the illusion of law enforcement,” Nadiem said.

According to him, several witnesses who received funds were instead turned into witnesses for the prosecution to strengthen the case. “All witnesses who received gratification funds were transformed into aggravating witnesses,” he said.

He also noted discrepancies in the investigation records. “Various witness statements (BAP) written by the prosecutors are exactly the same. It is as if they were copy-pasted,” Nadiem remarked.

He stated that the testimonies provided by witnesses during the trial differed from the contents of the written investigation reports previously prepared by investigators. “Their testimonies are very different from their written BAPs. Why is it so important for the Prosecutors to constantly revert to those written BAPs?” he questioned.