Nadiem Denies Prosecutor's Narrative, Affirms CDM's Usefulness for School Student Programmes

JAKARTA - Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim has denied the narrative presented by the Public Prosecutors (JPU) and affirmed that Chrome Device Management (CDM) was beneficial to Indonesian society during his tenure.

“This is quite amusing; the prosecution’s accusation is of total loss, with no benefit at all. That means everything related to CDM is considered a loss, even though it was used multiple times to protect our children,” Nadiem stated when met during a break in the trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday (6/4/2026).

Through CDM, Nadiem was able to ensure that all schools used applications prioritised by his ministry.

This also directly supported his priority programmes at the time, such as Merdeka Belajar and the National Competency Assessment (AKM).

“Thanks to CDM, we could enforce the installation of applications like Merdeka Mengajar and the National Assessment,” Nadiem said.

“Without CDM, there would have been mass cheating in the national assessment because CDM could lock the laptops during the national assessment,” he added.

In this case, former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim, along with three other defendants, is alleged to have caused state financial losses amounting to Rp 2.1 trillion.

Nadiem is charged with enriching himself by Rp 809 billion. This amount is said to stem from Google’s investment in Gojek or PT AKAB.

Nadiem is accused of abusing his authority, thereby making Google the sole dominant player in the procurement of information and communication technology (ICT), including laptops, within Indonesia’s technology ecosystem.

This was done by directing procurement studies towards a single product, namely Chrome-based devices, which are Google’s products.

For their actions, Nadiem and the other defendants face charges under Article 2 Paragraph (1) and Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law No. 31 of 1999 as amended and supplemented by Law No. 20 of 2001 on the Eradication of Corruption Crimes, in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) first of the Criminal Code.