Nadiem Makarim Examined By The AGO For 12 Hours

JAKARTA - Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim was examined for 12 hours as a witness in the alleged corruption case in the procurement of Chromebook laptops.

"In my capacity as a witness, I express my highest gratitude and appreciation to all officers from the prosecutor's office," said Nadiem at the Jampidsus building, AGO, Jakarta, Monday, June 23, as reported by ANTARA.

Nadiem said investigators carried out the legal process of this case well, prioritizing the principles of justice, transparency, and the principle of presumption of innocence.

Nadiem said his arrival today to be examined as a witness was to fulfill his responsibilities as an Indonesian citizen who obeyed the legal process.

"I was present today at the Attorney General's Office as a citizen who believes that fair and transparent law enforcement is an important pillar for democracy and a clean government," he said.

Nadiem Makarim arrived at the Jampidsus building, AGO, at 09.10 WIB accompanied by his attorney.

Nadiem was observed leaving the building at around 21.00 WIB and immediately gave a statement to the media crew.

The AGO is currently investigating a case of alleged corruption in the procurement of a Chromebook at the Ministry of Education and Culture in 2019-2022.

Head of the Legal Information Center (Kapuspenkum) of the Attorney General's Office, Harli Siregar, said investigators were investigating allegations of malicious conspiracy by various parties by directing a technical team to conduct technical studies related to the procurement of equipment assistance related to technology education in 2020.

"To be directed at the use of laptops based on the Chrome operating system," he said.

In fact, the use of Chromebooks is not a necessity. This is because in 2019 a trial of the use of 1,000 Chromebooks by the Pustekom Kemendikbudristek and the results were ineffective.

From this experience, the technical team also recommended using specifications with the Windows operating system. However, at that time, the Ministry of Education and Culture replaced the study with a new study that recommended using the Chrome operating system.

In terms of budget, Harli revealed that the procurement of the Chromebook laptop cost Rp9.982 trillion.

The trillions of rupiah funds consist of Rp3.582 trillion in education unit funds and around Rp6.399 trillion from special allocation funds.