Nadiem Expresses Sadness Over Being Narrated as a White-Collar Criminal

The Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology for the 2019-2024 period, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, has expressed sadness regarding new narratives portraying him as a ‘white-collar criminal’. This narrative was presented by the Public Prosecutor of the Attorney General’s Office in a previous indictment, alleging that Nadiem utilised bureaucratic loopholes and his position for personal gain.

‘I am accused of being too clever for corruption that is visible on the surface,’ Nadiem stated while reading his defence plea (pleidoi) at the Corruption Court of the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday. According to Nadiem, if he were indeed committing corruption, the disguise would have to be so masterful that neither he nor the prosecutors would understand the modus operandi used.

He further claimed that the prosecutors have run out of arguments supported by evidence, leaving behind nothing but narratives of suspicion. Nadiem maintained that after five months of proceedings, there has been no evidence that he received any benefits, whether in the form of money or shares, related to the Chromebook procurement. ‘There are no reports from the PPATK (Indonesian Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) indicating that I received even a single penny or share from the ministry, laptop vendors, CDM resellers, Google, PT Gojek Indonesia, or GoTo. There is none,’ he said.