An Indonesian court has sentenced former Education Minister Nadiem Makarim to 10 years in prison after convicting him of corruption linked to the procurement of Chromebook laptops for schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The anti-corruption court in Jakarta ruled that the procurement scheme caused an estimated US$120 million in losses to the Indonesian government. In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered Makarim to pay a 1 billion rupiah fine and 809 billion rupiah (over US$45 million) in restitution or face additional jail time.
Prosecutors argued that the Chromebook purchase was influenced by Google’s investment in Gojek, the ride-hailing company Makarim co-founded in 2010. They had sought an 18-year prison sentence and a much larger financial penalty.
Makarim, who became one of Indonesia’s youngest cabinet ministers in 2019 under Joko Widodo, denied all wrongdoing and said he would appeal the verdict. He maintained that the Chromebook procurement saved public funds and described the case as an “investigative error,” arguing that there was no evidence of state losses, personal enrichment, or criminal intent.
Google was not charged in the case and has denied any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, GoTo Group, formed through the merger of Gojek and Tokopedia, said Makarim had no decision-making role in the company after resigning in 2019 to join the government.
During his tenure as education minister, Makarim introduced reforms aimed at increasing flexibility in education and barred schools from forcing girls to wear Islamic headscarves. Following the verdict, he warned that the prosecution could discourage talented professionals from entering public service.
