Nadiem Makarim Faces First Appeal Hearing in Chromebook Corruption Case

Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Anwar Makarim attended his first appeal hearing at the DKI Jakarta High Court on Wednesday regarding the Chromebook procurement corruption case. His lawyer, Zaid Mushafi, stated that the appeal memorandum criticises various considerations made by the judges in the initial ruling that implicated his client. ‘In this appeal, we are asking the panel of high court judges to re-examine the case and reopen the facts that formed the basis of the first-instance court’s considerations,’ Zaid said after submitting the appeal memorandum. He highlighted one contested consideration, which concerned the granting of a power of attorney for the management of Nadiem’s shares in PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (AKAB) and PT Gojek Indonesia to another party. The Attorney General’s Office has also decided to appeal the sentence handed down by the Corruption Court, which imposed a 10-year prison term on Nadiem. One of the aspects the prosecution will consider in its appeal memorandum is the city arrest status currently granted to Nadiem. In the corruption case involving the digitalisation of education through the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM) within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology for the 2019-2022 period, Nadiem was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of corruption. In addition to the prison sentence, he was fined IDR 1 billion, with a subsidiary of 190 days imprisonment, and ordered to pay restitution of IDR 809.59 billion, with a subsidiary of 5 years imprisonment. The restitution was imposed after Nadiem was proven to have received IDR 809.59 billion originating from PT AKAB through PT Gojek Indonesia. A significant portion of PT AKAB’s funds came from a Google investment worth USD 786.99 million. In this case, Nadiem was proven to have abused his authority, causing state financial losses amounting to IDR 1.56 trillion. The corruption included carrying out the procurement of information and communication technology-based learning tools, specifically 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 declared to have been carried out jointly with three other defendants who have been convicted in separate trials, namely Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam, Mulyatsyah, and Sri Wahyuningsih, as well as Jurist Tan, who remains a fugitive. Consequently, Nadiem was found guilty of violating criminal provisions stipulated in Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption as amended and supplemented by Law Number 20 of 2001, in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.