Nadiem Makarim After Being Demanded 18 Years in Prison: Extremely Disappointing

“This is a very, very, very disappointing day. There are perhaps no words that can explain my feelings. Starting from yesterday’s decision, Brother Ibam received an absurd guilty verdict of 4 years. And today we see the result of the hard work of honest people, young people who want to change old patterns, who want to advance towards transparency, using technology. Well, this is the payback,” said Nadiem Makarim after the trial at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court, Wednesday (13/5/2026). If added to the subsidiary of replacement money of Rp 5.6 trillion in the form of 9 years’ imprisonment, Nadiem said the total demand becomes 27 years. He admitted to being confused by the demand. “For what mistake? There is no administrative error at all, no element of corruption at all in my case, and the entire society already knows. So I’m confused. Why? Why is my demand greater than that of a murderer? My demand is greater than that of a terrorist?” he said. Nadiem is convinced that he is not guilty in this matter and has served the country for 10 years. He said his assets come from legitimate income. “So why is it thrown at me? What’s even more shocking is that it has no connection. That money is legitimate wealth that I obtained by creating millions of jobs with Gojek shares. Those are shares I got in 2015, and all the proof is there. But still, it’s used as a legal weapon. I don’t know if it’s to scare me, to pressure me, I don’t understand what the real reason for this is,” he stated. Nadiem invited young people to monitor this case. He urged young people to fight for the enforcement of truth. “So I really hope that society, especially young people, we monitor this case together. We fight for the truth, don’t give up. Indonesia still has hope. I’m fighting here for a reason. Why God gave this calamity to me, maybe it’s not a calamity, that’s what I realise. Perhaps without this case hitting me, the injustice that has been happening might not be exposed,” he said. Nadiem admitted he does not regret joining the government. He believes Indonesia’s future is more important than all the risks he faces. “I’ll say it again, I never regret joining the government. To make money, you can do it for a lifetime. To help the next generation of our nation become better, that’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So I couldn’t possibly refuse the position or mandate when it was offered. Even if I fail, the risk of failure, the risk of going to prison, I’ll take it because Indonesia’s future is more important than all these risks,” he said. Nadiem could not deny his disappointment and heartbreak. He admitted to running out of words to explain the demands imposed on him. “Of course I’m disappointed. I’m heartbroken, my heart is broken. A person only has a broken heart if they love the country. That the country can do this to me after all my service, yes, I’m heartbroken. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love this country. On the contrary, the heartbreak is because I love this country. So no, I don’t regret it,” said Nadiem. “And frankly, my hope and the hope of many people at this time is for a demand of acquittal. But the opposite happened, the heaviest punishment is thrown at me. The heaviest. I have no words to explain why,” he added. Nadiem assessed the prosecutors’ indictment letter as a list of narratives that are not only beyond reason but also have no connection to the case. He believes there is no point in holding a trial if legal facts are not included in the demand. “What’s the point of the trial if the trial facts are not included in the demand, even sometimes in the decision. This is something that as a layperson, not a legal expert, I don’t understand why this process is needed if everything is already clear and it still goes back to that,” said Nadiem. “And why are there no consequences for the prosecution team that keeps uttering lies repeatedly? How can that be, and it’s open in front of everyone mentioning lies,” he added. Nadiem explained that the amounts of Rp 809 billion and Rp 4.8 trillion are the value of Gojek’s IPO, not money he received. He claimed that evidence of the transfer explanation for that money is already clear in the trial. “That Rp 4 trillion, Rp 809, that’s from my SPT in 2022. I reported the value of Gojek’s IPO, that’s not money I received, that’s just the IPO value. So it’s taken from there, okay now it has to be paid back. What’s the logic? Same with Rp 809 billion, that number has nothing to do with me. It’s already proven as a transfer between two Gojek companies. I’m not involved, it has nothing to do with Google, nothing to do with Chromebook,” he explained. Nadiem admitted to being sad and his family being devastated by the demand. He asked for prayers because he has to undergo surgery tonight. “Well, that’s from me. Tonight I’ll undergo surgery. I’m sad, I’m disappointed, my family is very devastated, I don’t know how to describe it, I don’t know what kind of treatment this is,” said Nadiem. “But I have to undergo surgery tonight, because if not, it will get worse and impact me. I only ask for prayers from our entire nation. I ask for prayers,” he added. Previously, former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim was demanded a sentence of 18 years in prison. Prosecutors believe Nadiem is guilty in the corruption case of procuring Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM). “Demanding that the panel of judges declare the defendant Nadiem Anwar Makarim has been legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing corruption crimes carried out jointly,” said prosecutor Roy Riady when reading the indictment at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court.”