Reading Defence Plea, Nadiem: If I Am Guilty, Should We Have Chosen a More Expensive Option?

The former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, has stated that no elements of corruption have been proven in the case regarding the procurement of Chromebook laptops at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. This statement was made by Nadiem while reading his personal defence plea (pleidoi) before the Judges of the Central Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday, 2 June 2026, in response to the 27.5-year prison sentence demand filed by the Public Prosecutor.

In his plea, Nadiem noted an irony in the case against him. He argued that the ministry’s policy to choose the Chrome OS operating system actually resulted in state budget savings of up to Rp3.9 trillion because it utilises a free operating system. “If I am found guilty, does it mean the state believes the ministry should have chosen a more expensive option?” Nadiability remarked on Tuesday, 2 June 2026.

Nadiem emphasised that throughout the five-month trial process, which involved presenting more than 50 factual witnesses and experts, the prosecution failed to prove the substance of the indictment. He presented several facts that emerged during the trial, including the fact that the procurement price of the Chromebooks was below market value. According to trial facts, the average purchase price of Chromebooks by the ministry reached Rp5.6 million per unit, which is lower than the 2020 market price that, according to the prosecution’s witness surveys, was around Rp6.3 million.

Furthermore, Nadiem highlighted the discrepancy between the audit results of the Audit Board of Indonesia (BPK) and the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP). He noted that the BPK, as the authorised institution, found no state losses in the project. Conversely, he argued that the state loss calculations performed by the BPKP used methods that did not reflect actual market conditions.

Regarding the utilisation of the devices, Nadiem revealed that Chrome Device Management (CDM) data shows 85 per cent of the Chromebooks purchased since 2020 are still actively used as of 2025. Meanwhile, internal audit results from the BPKP for 2023-2024 showed that 95 per cent of students, 86 per cent of teachers, and 57 per cent of school principals are utilising the devices optimally. “The BPKP 2023/2024 internal audit also confirms that 95% of students, 86% of teachers, and 57% of principals are using the devices optimally, debunking the narrative that this project has been abandoned,” he said.