Indonesia court reduces Gojek founder’s sentence to 9 years in appeal hearing

JAKARTA, Sept 24 (Reuters) – An Indonesian court has reduced the prison sentence of Gojek founder and former education minister Nadiem Makarim to 9 years from 10 years in an appeal hearing for a graft conviction relating to improper laptop procurement, judges said on Thursday. 

• Nadiem was sentenced to 10 years in prison in June after the court found him guilty of abusing his authority during the procurement of Google Chromebooks for schools in Indonesia that led to $125 million in state losses. He filed an appeal on July 1 to the Jakarta high court.

• One judge, Catur Iriantoro, said on Thursday that they did not approve Nadiem’s appeal to dismiss all charges because the previous ruling was consistent with the facts established at trial, the evidence presented, and witness testimony.

• The court also cut the amount of restitution Nadiem must pay from 809 billion rupiah ($45.23 million) to 548 billion rupiah, another judge, Subachran Hardi Mulyana, said.

• After the hearing, Nadiem expressed his disappointment about the ruling and told reporters he would file another appeal to the Supreme Court.

• “The victim now is not just me, but the credibility of the law enforcement system in Indonesia,” he said.

• Judges also upheld a previous ruling that said Makarim had adjusted the tender requirements to favour Chrome, which benefited Google and restricted competition.

($1 = 17,888 rupiah)

(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Editing by David Stanway)