Prosecutor Reveals Nadiem Deliberately Ignored Dirjen to 'Score' ChromeOS
Jakarta, VIVA – Prosecutor Roy Riady has refuted the arguments of Rocky Gerung, who described the presence of an external team at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology as commonplace. Roy views the involvement of these outsiders, whom Rocky called ‘smart’, as a tool for abusing authority.
In the trial of the alleged corruption case regarding the procurement of Chromebooks, Roy revealed that the special team formed by Nadiem Makarim is strongly suspected to have been a means to impose the use of a specific operating system for personal business interests.
Roy Riady emphasised that Rocky Gerung’s observations deviate from the legal facts uncovered by investigators. According to him, Nadiem deliberately brought in an external team to circumvent existing bureaucratic procedures.
“Brother Rocky calls it a clever step. But for us, it is a tool for the defendant to abuse his authority. In fact, this team was used to force the use of Chromebooks, which we strongly suspect is closely related to Google’s investment in the defendant’s personal business interests,” Roy stated at the Corruption Court in Jakarta on Monday, 11 May 2026.
Roy added that if a minister understands bureaucratic principles, he should involve the Director General (Dirjen) and the directors in the ministry, who have a far better understanding of the real needs in schools.
Furthermore, Roy highlighted Nadiem’s attitude, which appears to show distrust in the ministry’s own internal apparatus. Based on trial facts, Nadiem is said to have been reluctant to communicate and involve structural officials in strategic decision-making.
“How can a minister not trust his own Dirjen and directors? He doesn’t want to involve them, even closing off communication channels. This already violates the General Principles of Good Governance (AAUPB) and the State Apparatus Law,” Roy asserted firmly.
According to the prosecutor, this act of isolating himself from internal bureaucracy was done intentionally to ensure the mission of facilitating ChromeOS use proceeded without obstacles, even though the operating system is known to have a history of past failures.
Elements of Unlawful Acts
Roy explained that in corruption criminal law, when a policy is taken by violating formal rules (unlawful act) and exacerbated by state losses, the corruption offence is fulfilled.
“When procedures are bypassed, structural officials are sidelined, and policies are directed to benefit certain parties with business relations to the defendant, that is where the criminal aspect lies. So this is not about being ‘clever’ as Rocky put it, but about adherence to the laws of the state,” he said.