Nadiem Grilled by Prosecutor on 'Shadow Minister' Figure Who Frightened His Staff

Jakarta – Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim was grilled by the prosecutor regarding the figure of the ‘shadow minister’ during the trial for the alleged corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM) from 2019 to 2022 on Monday, 11 May 2026.

“Have you ever heard who this shadow minister is?” asked the prosecutor.

“No, I haven’t,” replied Nadiem.

The prosecutor then revealed that the ‘shadow minister’ in question was Jurist Tan.

“I’ll tell you, sir. Jurist Tan is known as the shadow minister. There was even a fear in the ministry during the time you led as minister,” stated the prosecutor.

Furthermore, according to the prosecutor, the directors general (dirjen) at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology at that time were said to be afraid of Jurist Tan.

“Even a dirjen wouldn’t dare to stand up to the shadow minister named Jurist Tan. It even became a fact in the trial that you once said, ‘Are Jurist Tan’s words your words?’ Something like that,” said the prosecutor.

Meanwhile, Nadiem explained Jurist Tan’s position when he was still serving as Minister. Nadiem did not deny that Jurist Tan was one of the parties assisting him in carrying out his duties.

“Allow me to clarify. These are all different things being mixed together. As minister, I came in with several special staff who were specific in their respective fields because of their competence, because of their integrity. People like Mas Nino, Pak Iwan, Jurist Tan, and also Fiona, and others, they were SKM (special ministerial staff). Some of these SKM later became dirjen like Pak Iwan, who is a witness here,” said Nadiem.

For information, Nadiem Makarim along with other defendants have been charged with causing a state loss of Rp2.1 trillion in the alleged corruption case related to the Chromebook procurement at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology from 2019-2022.

In total, there are 25 parties consisting of individuals and companies that enriched themselves in this case, one of them being Nadiem Makarim for Rp809 billion.

However, this has been denied by Nadiem Makarim. Because, the hundreds of billions of rupiah is a figure from the results of corporate actions between Google and Gojek that is not related to the Chromebook procurement.