Nadiem Hopes for Full Acquittal in Alleged Chromebook Corruption Case
Jakarta, VIVA – The Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology for the 2019-2024 period, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, hopes that the panel of judges will deliver a verdict of full acquittal regarding the alleged Chromebook corruption case.
“I have only one hope from the judges’ decision, which is a full acquittal. There is no other option,” Nadiem stated to the media during a break in the reading of the plea defence at the Corruption Court of the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday.
He believes that various facts presented during the trial have simultaneously proven his innocence, making a legal acquittal mandatory. He called for honesty and conscience from the judges to decide based on the facts presented in court.
Legally, he maintains that all elements of the indictment have been refuted. He noted that under corruption law, if even one of the four elements of corruption is not met, the defendant must be fully acquitted. Nadiument identified these four elements as: the element of state loss; the element of legal violation; the element of enriching oneself, others, or a corporation; and the element of mens rea, or criminal intent. “All four elements of corruption have been broken; they are unproven,” he said.
Nadiem was implicated as one of the defendants in the alleged corruption case involving the education digitalisation programme, specifically the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM) within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology between 2019 and 2022.
Previously, he faced a prison sentence demand of 18 years, a fine of Rp1 billion (subsidised by 190 days in prison), and restitution of Rp5.67 trillion (subsidised by 9 years in prison). In this case, Nadiem was accused of corruption causing state losses amounting to Rp2.18 trillion. The corruption allegedly involved the procurement of information and communication technology-based learning tools, namely Chromebook laptops and CDM for the 2020, 2021, and 2022 fiscal years, which did not comply with procurement planning and principles.
The actions of the founder of the technology company were alleged to have been carried out in conjunction with three other defendants in separate trials, namely Ibrahim Arief (alias Ibam), Mulyatsyah and Sri Wahyuningsih, as well as Jurist Tan, who is currently a fugitive.