Nadiem Makarim to Deliver Final Defence Before Verdict in Education Corruption Case

Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology for the 2019-2024 period, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, will read his final defence plea, known as a duplik, at the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday. Nadiem is a defendant in a case concerning alleged corruption in the education digitalisation programme, specifically the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM) licences within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology between 2019 and 2022. According to the court’s Case Tracking Information System, the session is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. local time in the Muhammad Hatta Ali courtroom, presided over by Chief Judge Purwanto Abdullah. He is accused of corruption resulting in state losses amounting to Rp2.18 trillion. The alleged corruption involved executing the procurement of information and communication technology-based learning tools, namely Chromebooks and CDM, for the 2020, 2021, and 2022 fiscal years in a manner inconsistent with procurement planning and principles. The founder of a technology company is accused of committing these acts together with three other defendants in separate trials: Ibrahim Arief, also known as Ibam, Mulyatsyah, and Sri Wahyuningsih, as well as Jurist Tan, who remains a fugitive. In detail, the state losses caused include Rp1.56 trillion related to the education digitalisation programme at the ministry, and USD 44.05 million, equivalent to Rp621.39 billion, resulting from the procurement of CDM licences that were deemed unnecessary and not beneficial to the programme. It was stated that a majority of the funds for PT AKAB originated from a Google investment worth USD 786.99 million. This can be observed from Nadiem’s wealth as recorded in the 2022 State Officials’ Wealth Report, which listed the acquisition of securities valued at Rp5.59 trillion. For his actions, the former minister faces criminal charges under Article 2 paragraph (1) or Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 on 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.