Nadiem Cleared of Primary Charge in Chromebook Case, Judge Explains Reasoning

The panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court has declared that former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Nadiem Makarim, was not proven to have committed the primary charge in the alleged corruption case concerning the procurement of Chromebook laptops. In its considerations, the panel assessed that the element of ‘unlawful act’ which formed the basis of the prosecutor’s primary charge was not fulfilled. Consequently, Nadiem was acquitted of that charge. Presiding Judge Purwanto S. Abdullah explained that all actions charged against Nadiem were carried out in the exercise of his authority as a minister, not as an individual acting outside his office. ‘Everything stems from the use of official authority and not from actions outside of office,’ Purwanto stated while reading the verdict considerations on Tuesday, 30 June 2026. The panel elaborated that various policies questioned in this case, ranging from assigning roles to special staff and internal consultants, providing policy direction, to setting specifications through ministerial regulations, were part of exercising official authority. On that basis, the panel opined that these actions were more appropriately qualified as alleged abuse of authority as stipulated in Article 3 of the Corruption Eradication Law, rather than as an unlawful act as charged by the prosecutor in the primary indictment referring to Article 2 Paragraph (1). The judge emphasised that the failure to meet the ‘unlawful act’ element was the main reason the primary charge could not be proven. ‘Based on these considerations, the element of unlawful act should be declared unfulfilled,’ he said. The panel also stated that these considerations applied to other defendants who were implementing officials, directors, or budget user proxies because all their actions were performed in their respective official capacities. With these considerations, the panel declared the primary charge against Nadiem not legally and convincingly proven. However, the trial is not yet over as the panel continues to read out considerations for other charges in the alleged Chromebook procurement corruption case.