The Jakarta High Court on August 5 approved former Indonesian education minister Nadiem Makarim’s request to call five additional witnesses in his appeal over the Chromebook procurement case.

The judges said Makarim’s lawyers remain responsible for producing the witnesses.

The court set August 12 to hear R.A. Koesomohadiani, legal and corporate secretary director at PT GoTo, a Jakarta-based Indonesian tech group; and Andre Soelistyo, former president director of PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (PT AKAB), now part of GoTo.

The other witnesses are Dwi Satrianto, head of the Government Goods and Services Procurement Policy Institute (LKPP); Riko Gunawan, product and solution director at Acer Indonesia; and forensic accounting expert Mohamad Mahsun.

In June, Jakarta’s anti-corruption court sentenced Makarim to 10 years in prison, fined him 1 billion rupiah (US$56,000), and ordered 809.6 billion rupiah (US$45.3 million) in restitution after finding him guilty of abuse of authority and causing state losses, though not of directly enriching himself.

At the appeal’s opening hearing, Makarim’s lawyers argued that the lower court erred by treating Google as a beneficiary, dismissing Chromebooks’ benefits for digital education, and imposing the restitution order.

🔗 Source: Kompas.com