Appeal verdict for Ibrahim Arief postponed

The Jakarta High Court has postponed the reading of the appeal verdict for Ibrahim Arief, a former consultant for the Ministry of Education, who was previously sentenced for corruption.

"We apologize, we have many corruption cases that need attention, so case number 31 is still in the process of preparing the verdict. The panel still needs more time to prepare the decision until Thursday, August 13," said the Chief Judge at the Jakarta High Court on Thursday, July 30, 2026.

In the first instance, Arief, known as Ibam, was sentenced to 4 years in prison and fined Rp 500 million, with an alternative of 120 days detention. The Corruption Court found him guilty of corrupting the procurement of Chromebooks at the Ministry of Education, violating articles of the Corruption Eradication Law and the Criminal Code.

This sentence was lighter than the prosecutor's demand of 15 years imprisonment, a Rp 1 billion fine, and restitution of Rp 16.92 billion. The initial court considered Arief's actions to have caused state financial losses and hindered national education quality mapping. Mitigating factors included his lack of prior convictions and his role as a technology consultant providing technical input rather than being the main policy designer for the IT procurement.

In addition to Arief, three other defendants in the Chromebook corruption case have also been sentenced. These include former Minister of Education Nadiem Makarim, sentenced to 10 years in prison, fined Rp 1 billion, and ordered to pay Rp 809 billion in restitution. Former Director of Junior High Schools at the Ministry, Mulyatsyah, received a 4.5-year sentence, a Rp 500 million fine, and Rp 2.2 billion in restitution. Former Director of Primary Schools, Sri Wahyuningsih, was sentenced to 4 years in prison and fined Rp 500 million.

“

We apologize, we have many corruption cases that need attention, so case number 31 is still in the process of preparing the verdict. The panel still needs more time to prepare the decision until Thursday, August 13.