Nadiem Makarim Speaks Out After 10-Year Sentence: 'I Don't Know Who to Turn to for Help Anymore'

Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Nadiem Makarim, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by a panel of judges for a corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM). The Jakarta Central Corruption Court panel stated that the corporation Google was the intended beneficiary of the illicit procurement scheme within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek). Following the verdict, Nadiem Makarim spoke out, saying he was convicted based on facts that were illogical. He felt speechless over the sentence. “I no longer know what words I can use to explain my feelings today. There has never been a case where millions of people followed every fact of the trial,” Nadiem Makarim said in a post on his Instagram account, @nadiemmakarim. “It is extremely rare for a case where prominent anti-corruption figures all simultaneously state that there is no element of corruption,” he continued. He admitted he no longer knew who to turn to for help in obtaining justice. “I don’t know who to ask for help anymore, where I can get justice,” he said. The founder of Gojek said his only hope and trust for justice lies with the Indonesian people. “My only hope is in the people of Indonesia. My only hope is in every person who still believes that truth has meaning in this country,” Nadiem expressed. “I have fought for the past year… to reveal all the honesty we have practised. All the good intentions that my team and I carried out during our time at the ministry, we have explained. But it seems to have meant nothing,” he continued. Despite this, he will continue to fight by filing an appeal for the sake of his children, his wife, and the Indonesian people. “I will certainly keep fighting, for my children, for my family, for the entire nation of Indonesia that I still love,” he stated. “I will fight! I will immediately file an appeal. To continue… for the truth, for the young people, for the professionals out there, for all honest people who are criminalised,” he concluded.