Prosecutors: Nadiem Had Malicious Intent, Followed by Unlawful Acts in Chromebook Case

Jakarta - Public prosecutor Roy Riady from the Attorney General’s Office stated that defendant Nadiem Anwar Makarim did not merely possess malicious intent in the alleged Chromebook corruption case, but had already followed through with a series of unlawful acts. “This is as we, the public prosecutors, have comprehensively and systematically outlined in the sentencing demand,” the prosecutor said during the replication hearing at the Corruption Court in the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday. The prosecutor explained that this applied particularly to Nadiem’s actions, which clearly violated the Presidential Regulation on the Procurement of Goods and Services. The prosecutor stated Nadiem took these actions by instructing Hamid Muhammad with the order “Go ahead with Chromebook” and by ordering defendants Mulyatsyah and Sri Wahyuningsih through Jurist Tan, stating that Chromebook no longer needed to be debated because it was final as an order from Nadiem as minister. Furthermore, Nadiem is alleged to have conveyed directly to Sri Wahyuningsih and Mulyatsyah after their inauguration that the digital education programme must use the Chrome operating system and the devices must utilise Chrome Device Management. Based on these trial facts, the prosecutor stated that Nadiem did not dispute them during his examination in court, thereby demonstrating a strong causal link between the malicious intent followed up by unlawful acts. It was stated that this embodies the legal principle actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea—an act does not make a person guilty unless the intent is also criminal—carried out to enrich oneself, others, or a corporation. “Thus, these actions fall purely within the criminal domain, in this instance, the criminal act of corruption,” the prosecutor said. Nadiem is implicated as a defendant in the alleged corruption case involving the education digitalisation programme, specifically the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management within the Ministry of Education and Culture for the 2019–2022 period. Previously, Nadiem was sentenced to 18 years in prison, a fine of Rp1 billion, subsidiary to 190 days of imprisonment, and a compensation payment of Rp5.67 trillion, subsidiary to 9 years in prison. In this case, Nadiem is charged with corruption causing state financial losses totalling Rp2.18 trillion. The corruption was allegedly committed, among other ways, by carrying out the procurement of ICT-based learning tools in the form of Chromebook laptops and CDM for the 2020, 2021, and 2022 fiscal years without adhering to procurement planning and principles. In detail, the state losses caused include Rp1.56 trillion related to the education digitalisation programme at the Ministry, and US$44.05 million, equivalent to Rp621.39 billion, resulting from the unnecessary and useless procurement of CDM for the programme. Through these actions, Nadiem is suspected of having received Rp809.59 billion originating from PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa via PT Gojek Indonesia. It was mentioned that the majority of PT AKAB’s funding sources came from a Google investment worth US$786.99 million. This can be seen from Nadiem’s wealth recorded in the State Officials’ Wealth Report for 2022, which noted an acquisition of securities worth Rp5.59 trillion. For his actions, the former Minister of Education and Culture faces criminal penalties as stipulated in relevant articles of the Corruption Eradication Law in conjunction with the Criminal Code.