ZOAHARIAN.COM – The legal journey of former Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Mendikbudristek) Nadiem Anwar Makarim in the case of alleged corruption in the procurement of Chromebooks has entered a new chapter.

The DKI Jakarta High Court on Thursday, September 24 2026, changed Nadiem's ​​sentence, which was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison to 9 years in prison.

It's not just corporal punishment that has changed. The amount of compensation money that Nadiem had to pay was also cut by hundreds of billions of rupiah.

This decision is the latest point in a long journey regarding the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM) within the Ministry of Education and Culture for the 2019–2022 period.

Starting from Procurement of Educational Laptops

This case started with a program to procure technological equipment to support the digitalization of education.

In this case, the prosecutor accused Nadiem of being involved in a criminal act of corruption related to the procurement of Chromebook laptops and the Chrome Device Management system.

Prosecutors accused Nadiem of enriching himself amounting to Rp. 809.59 billion, as well as enriching 12 private companies that were vendors in the project.

Prosecutors also said that the Chromebook usage policy was related to Google's business interests and investments.

In his indictment, the prosecutor assessed that this procurement caused state financial losses of around IDR 2.18 trillion.

This figure consists of around IDR 1.56 trillion based on the BPKP audit results and around US$ 44.05 million or the equivalent of IDR 621.38 billion based on calculations used by prosecutors.

June 30 2026, Nadiem Sentenced to 10 Years

The case then moved to the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court.

After going through a series of trials, the panel of judges chaired by Purwanto S. Abdullah read out the decision on Tuesday, June 30 2026.

Nadiem was declared guilty of committing a criminal act of corruption and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In addition to the prison sentence, Nadiem was given a fine of Rp. 1 billion. If the fine is not paid, the penalty is replaced by imprisonment for 190 days.

The judge also imposed an additional penalty in the form of payment of compensation amounting to Rp. 809,597,125,000 or around Rp. 809.59 billion.

If the replacement money is not paid, Nadiem's ​​assets can be confiscated and auctioned. If the assets owned are insufficient, there is a substitute prison sentence of five years.

Legal Team Immediately Files an Appeal

The 10 year prison sentence was later rejected by Nadiem's ​​legal team.

Legal counsel submitted an appeal request electronically to the Central Jakarta District Court on July 1 2026.

Nadiem's ​​legal team assessed that there were a number of trial facts which, according to them, had not been considered proportionally by the first level panel of judges.

The head of the Nadiem Legal Team, Ari Yusuf Amir, previously stated that his party believed that the facts in the trial would receive a fairer assessment at the appeal level.

The appeal was then examined by the DKI Jakarta High Court.

September 24, 2026, Verdict Changed

After an examination process at the appeal level, the DKI Jakarta High Court finally read out the decision on Thursday, September 24 2026.

As a result, Nadiem's ​​sentence was cut by one year.

"Sentenced the defendant Nadiem Anwar Makarim to prison for 9 years," said the head of the panel of judges when reading out the verdict.

A fine of Rp 1 billion is still imposed. However, the alternative sentence when the fine is not paid changed from 190 days to 140 days in prison.

The other most significant change is in replacement money.

If previously Nadiem was required to pay IDR 809.59 billion, on appeal the amount would be around IDR 548.76 billion.

If Nadiem does not have sufficient assets to pay the replacement money, the replacement penalty is set at 6 years in prison.

The case journey hasn't stopped yet?

This appeal decision is the latest chapter in a case involving the name of one of the former ministers previously known as the founder of Gojek.

From the educational technology procurement case, to the 10 year sentence at the first instance, to finally being reduced to 9 years at the appeal level, the course of the Nadiem case is still of public concern.

The next legal steps are also something to be awaited after the decision of the DKI Jakarta High Court.

Reported from various sources, including trial statements and national media reports