Nadiem Resumes Laptop Corruption Trial After Four Days in Hospital for Bleeding
Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology under Indonesia’s seventh president Joko Widodo, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, claimed he had been hospitalised due to bleeding he experienced.
He made the statement during the continuation of his trial for alleged corruption in the procurement of Chromebook laptops at the Jakarta Central Corruption Court on Tuesday (23 February).
Presiding Judge Purwanto S Abdullah initially asked Nadiem about his health.
“Are you in good health today, Defendant?” asked Judge Purwanto.
“I am well, Your Honour. Thank you. I am ready to proceed with the trial,” Nadiem replied.
Nadiem then disclosed that he had experienced bleeding and had requested a temporary suspension of his detention as he needed to be hospitalised.
“Over the past two weeks, was there a suspension of detention or anything of that nature?” asked the Presiding Judge.
“Yes, Your Honour. I was hospitalised for four days because I experienced bleeding, but thankfully it was successfully treated at the hospital. From Wednesday through to Saturday,” Nadiem replied.
Following the hearing, Nadiem urged Indonesia’s young people to serve their country.
“And I want to speak to the young people of Indonesia, perhaps those who are currently abroad or still studying — please come back to Indonesia. Do not lose hope in our country. There is still much hope, there are still many good people here,” he said.
Despite being imprisoned, Nadiem said his service to the nation would not be in vain.
“Even though I am imprisoned like this, I am still serving the country. Because service can never be in vain,” Nadiem said.
“So I implore young people not to lose hope. There is still much hope in Indonesia. Continue contributing to the nation,” he added.
The hearing was held to examine witnesses. Ten witnesses were called, including Commissioner of PT Gojek Tokopedia TBK Andre Sulistyo and Gojek co-founder Kevin Aluwi.
In this case, Nadiem Makarim is accused of causing Rp2.1 trillion in state financial losses through the alleged corruption in the procurement scheme.
The figure comprises Rp1,567,888,662,716.74 (Rp1.5 trillion) from inflated Chromebook prices and US$44,054,426 or approximately Rp621,387,678,730 (Rp621 billion) — at a rate of Rp14,105 to the US dollar — from the procurement of unnecessary and non-beneficial CDM (Chrome Device Management) licences.
Nadiem was indicted alongside Sri Wahyuningsih, Director of Primary Schools at the Directorate General of Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary Education for 2020–2021; Mulyatsyah, Director of Junior Secondary Schools at the Ministry of Education and Culture for 2020; and Ibrahim Arief, an individual consultant for the School Resource Management Technology Infrastructure Improvement Plan at the Ministry.
For their alleged offences, prosecutors charged Nadiem and his co-defendants under Article 2 Paragraph 1 or Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of the Corruption Eradication Act, read together with Article 55 Paragraph 1, Sub-paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code.