Nadiem Disappointed that his Appeal in the "Chromebook" Corruption Case was Rejected

Nadiem Anwar Makarim leaves the room after the reading of the interim verdict by the panel of judges at the Corruption Court/ANTARA/Agatha Olivia Victoria.

JAKARTA - Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Anwar Makarim admitted that he was disappointed with the interim decision of the panel of judges who rejected his objection or exception to the charges in the alleged corruption case of Chromebooks.

"Even so, I respect the legal process. I also want to thank the panel of judges even though this is not the decision I expected," said Nadiem when met after the reading of the verdict by the panel of judges at the Corruption Court in Jakarta, Monday, January 12.

He said Google had spoken out about the case he was experiencing and stated that there was no conflict of interest in the procurement of Chromebook laptops.

In fact, said Nadiem, the majority of Google's investments occurred before he served as the Minister of Education and Culture and Chromebooks have already proven to be usable without the internet.

"Google also talks about the Chromebook as the number one laptop for education in the world. Hopefully this can be a light," he said.

The Corruption Court of the PN Jakpus Court of Justice rejected Nadiem's objection note because the various formal objections submitted by the former Minister of Education and Culture and his legal advisor were not sufficiently reasoned to stop the examination of the case at the stage of objection.

The panel of judges considered that Nadiem's objections and his legal advisers were more concerned with the aspect of proof, which was more appropriately considered in the main examination of the case.

In the case of alleged corruption in the education digitization program in the form of the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM) in the environment of the Ministry of Education and Culture in 2019-2022, Nadiem is accused of corruption that has caused losses to the state treasury worth IDR 2.18 trillion.

Corruption, among others, was carried out by carrying out the procurement of learning facilities based on information and communication technology with laptops Chromebook and CDM for the 2020, 2021, and 2022 fiscal years not in accordance with the procurement planning and procurement principles.

The alleged act was carried out together with three other defendants who have been tried, namely Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam, Mulyatsyah, and Sri Wahyuningsih, as well as Jurist Tan, who is currently still at large.

In detail, the losses caused by the state include Rp1.56 trillion related to the education digitization program at the Ministry of Education and Culture, as well as 44.05 million US dollars or the equivalent of Rp621.39 billion due to the procurement of CDM that is not necessary and not useful in the education digitization program.

With this act, Nadiem is suspected of having received money amounting to IDR 809.59 billion originating from PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (PT AKAB) through PT Gojek Indonesia.

It is stated that most of PT AKAB's money comes from Google's investment of US$786.99 million.

This can be seen from Nadiem's wealth which is recorded in the LHKPN in 2022, namely there is an acquisition of property in the form of securities worth IDR 5.59 trillion.

For his actions, the former Minister of Education and Culture is threatened with a criminal penalty as stipulated in Article 2 paragraph (1) or Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning Eradication of Corruption as amended and supplemented by Law Number 20 of 2001 jo. Article 55 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.