Nadiem: I was sentenced to prison based on absurd facts

Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology for the 2019–2024 period, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, stated that the prison sentence handed down to him was based on absurd facts. ‘Today we pose a very big question to our legal system. Does truth, does justice, still have any meaning? Today it is answered, all the court facts were ignored,’ Nadiem said while speaking to the media after the sentencing hearing at the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday. Nadiem admitted that during the verdict hearing he listened to the judges speak, but the four judges who sentenced him to 10 years in prison could not look him directly in the eye. He said he knew the hearts of those judges, who understood he was not guilty. However, the truth came from one other judge who had the courage to state what was actually the fact of the trial. ‘There was one dissenting opinion, Judge Andi, who laid out the truth bluntly and said I should be acquitted unconditionally,’ he said. In addition to the prison sentence, he was also fined Rp1 billion, subsidiary to 190 days imprisonment, and ordered to pay compensation of Rp809.59 billion, subsidiary to 5 years imprisonment. The compensation was imposed after he was proven to have received Rp809.59 billion originating from PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (PT AKAB) through PT Gojek Indonesia. It was stated that the majority of PT AKAB’s funds came from a Google investment worth 786.99 million US dollars. In this case, Nadiem was proven to have abused his authority, causing state losses of Rp1.56 trillion. The corruption was allegedly carried out, among other things, by procuring information and communication technology-based learning facilities in the form of 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 technology company founder were declared to have been carried out together with three other defendants who have been sentenced in separate trials, namely Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam, Mulyatsyah and Sri Wahyuningsih, as well as Jurist Tan, who is currently a fugitive. Consequently, the former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology was proven to have violated criminal provisions stipulated in Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended and supplemented by Law Number 20 of 2001 in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.