While Crying, Ibrahim Arief: What Is My Sin Against Indonesia?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Former technology consultant at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) Ibrahim Arief repeatedly broke down in tears while questioning what his sin was that led to prosecutors demanding a 15-year prison sentence in the alleged corruption case over the procurement of Chromebook-based laptops.

“I cannot deny that the stark contrast and the evidently forced demand like this naturally make me wonder, why am I being wronged like this? What is my sin against Indonesia?” said Ibrahim while reading his personal plea at the trial in the Jakarta Corruption Court, Thursday (23/4/2026).

Ibam, his familiar nickname, recounted that he had once rejected an offer from Facebook in 2019.

“At that time, my wife was pregnant with our second child. We had already envisioned the opportunity to raise our children in England,” said Ibam.

While preparing for the move to England, Ibam was contacted by Achmad Zaky, his former boss at Bukalapak.

Zaky mentioned that Nadiem Makarim, who had just been appointed as Minister of Education and Culture, was looking for a technology expert willing to assist him.

“What technology can directly do for the government and society,” said Ibam, recalling his inner struggle at the time.

This question strengthened after Ibam first met Nadiem on 16 December 2019.

They discussed the capabilities of technology that could be used to help the government if the existing applications were of a quality on par with Bukalapak.

This vision and mission made Ibam question himself because during his time working at Bukalapak, he developed technology for business purposes to meet the needs of the middle to upper class.

Ibam broke down again when recalling his vision after meeting Nadiem.

At that time, he began to think about what it would be like if technology were used to help society.