Nadiem Puzzled by 15-Year Sentence Demand Against Ibrahim Arief, Who Lacked Authority and Received No Funds
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim commented on the 15-year prison demand and restitution of Rp 16.9 billion against former Technology Consultant Ibrahim Arief.
Nadiem said he felt sad and puzzled after hearing that Ibrahim was being demanded such a heavy sentence.
“This is something that makes me very sad and confused. And this is regarding Ibrahim Arief or Ibam, who was demanded 15 years yesterday, even restitution of Rp 16 billion, and if not paid, it becomes 22 years,” Nadiem said during a break in the trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court, on Monday (20/4/2026).
“Ibam is a consultant, a technology consultant, he has no authority to make any decisions. And secondly, Ibam has been proven in the trial facts not to have received any flow of funds,” Nadiem added.
Moreover, with his track record as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Bukalapak.
“For those who might not know Ibam, Ibam is known as one of the best engineers or CTOs in Indonesia, he was the former CTO of Bukalapak, and he has an extraordinary level of reputation, reliability, competence, and idealism,” Nadiem said.
Nadiem admitted he was very puzzled by the high demand against Ibam, considering he had no authority to decide anything related to procurement.
Furthermore, Ibam was also not proven to have received even a single rupiah from the Chromebook procurement.
Moreover, a witness from Google today actually described Ibam as one of the parties who critically questioned the Chromebook.
On the same occasion, Nadiem asked young people in Indonesia to reflect on the case currently ensnaring Ibrahim.
He assessed that if this case is left unchecked, similar cases could recur and ensnare other young people.
“So please, this makes me feel that young professionals must realise that perhaps not everything is going well with the legal process in our country at this time,” he said.
Closing his statement, Nadiem asked the public to understand who Ibrahim is, namely a young professional with a family as well.