Nadiem Faces Duplik Hearing Today: 'I'm Prosecuted More Harshly Than Terrorists'

Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Mendikbudristek) Nadiem Anwar Makarim made a statement during a doorstop session before attending a duplik hearing at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday (23/6). Nadiem described the sentencing demand against him as the greatest irony.

Speaking to the media, Nadiem compared the sentence he faces with those handed to perpetrators of terrorism. He felt he was being treated unfairly, given that the policy he adopted was claimed to have saved the state a fantastic amount of money.

‘The greatest irony of this case is that I am imprisoned and prosecuted more harshly than terrorists for a policy that saved at least Rp3.6 trillion,’ Nadiem said before the hearing commenced.

Nadiem explained that the policy of using a free operating system for educational devices was actually a massive budget efficiency measure. According to him, rather than causing state losses, the move prevented the state from spending trillions of rupiah on expensive software licences.

‘There are no state losses caused by this policy. On the contrary, it resulted in massive savings. We chose a free operating system and saved the budget,’ he added.

Nadiem also stressed that the entire decision-making process had been documented transparently, including through WhatsApp conversation records with his team. He asserted there was no malicious intent in the policy, but rather a youthful spirit to bring technological change to Indonesia’s education system.

‘I hope this story will appeal to the conscience of the Panel of Judges to make not a safe decision, but the right one,’ he concluded.

Previously, Public Prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office requested that the Panel of Judges sentence Nadiem to 18 years in prison. The prosecutors also asked the judge to impose a fine of Rp1 billion, subsidiary to 190 days of confinement.

In addition to the custodial sentence, the prosecutors demanded Nadiem pay restitution amounting to Rp5.6 trillion. This was because his assets were deemed unreasonable and inconsistent with his income profile during his tenure as minister.

‘Imposing an additional penalty on the Defendant to pay restitution of Rp809,596,125,000 (Rp809 billion) and Rp4,871,469,603,758 (Rp4.8 trillion), which constitutes the Defendant’s assets disproportionate to his legitimate income or suspected to originate from corruption, with the provision that if the Defendant fails to pay the restitution within one month after the verdict obtains permanent legal force, the Defendant’s assets may be confiscated by the Prosecutor and auctioned to cover the restitution. In the event the Defendant does not have sufficient assets to pay the restitution, it shall be replaced with a prison sentence of 9 years,’ the prosecutor stated during the sentencing demand reading on Wednesday (13/5).