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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Crime & Justice

Nadiem Makarim's Lawyers Welcome Judicial Commission's Probe into Trial Judges' Ethics

From Tempo · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • Lawyers for former Indonesian minister Nadiem Makarim welcome the Judicial Commission's preliminary finding of potential judicial ethics breaches by judges in his corruption trial.
  • They believe these findings should be considered in his ongoing appeal against a 10-year prison sentence for corruption related to Chromebook procurement.
  • The defense team questions the impartiality of the judges, citing a previous ethics sanction against the presiding judge and alleged bias during the trial.

Lawyers representing former Indonesian Education Minister Nadiem Makarim have expressed appreciation for the Judicial Commission's preliminary assessment that judges in his corruption trial may have violated ethical codes. This finding is seen as crucial input for the appellate court reviewing Makarim's case.

We appreciate the Judicial Commission's efforts to ensure an objective judicial process.

— Dodi S. AbdulkadirLawyer for Nadiem Makarim, commenting on the Judicial Commission's preliminary findings.

Nadiem Makarim was sentenced to 10 years in prison, fined Rp1 billion (approximately US$63,000), and ordered to pay Rp809.6 billion in restitution for corruption related to the procurement of Chromebooks. He has appealed the verdict to the Jakarta High Court.

These preliminary findings should serve as important input for the appellate court reviewing our client's appeal so that necessary corrections can be made.

— Dodi S. AbdulkadirLawyer for Nadiem Makarim, emphasizing the importance of the findings for the appeal process.

Dodi S. Abdulkadir, one of Makarim's lawyers, stated that the preliminary findings should be considered by the appellate court to ensure necessary corrections are made. He also expressed hope that the Supreme Court would heed the Judicial Commission's recommendations to prevent similar practices that could undermine justice.

One of the clearest issues concerns the presiding judge, who had already been sanctioned by the Judicial Commission with a non-gavel penalty but was still assigned to lead this trial.

— Ari Yusuf AmirLawyer for Nadiem Makarim, questioning the impartiality of the presiding judge.

The defense team has raised concerns about the impartiality of the judges. Ari Yusuf Amir, another lawyer, pointed to the presiding judge, Purwanto S. Abdullah, who had previously received a non-gavel penalty from the Judicial Commission for an ethical violation in a separate case but was still assigned to lead Makarim's trial. Amir alleged that the judges appeared to prejudge Makarim as guilty and focused heavily on incriminating evidence while downplaying defense evidence. He also noted that the defense was allowed significantly fewer witnesses than the prosecution.

When questioning witnesses, the judges showed an attitude suggesting the defendant was already guilty.

— Ari Yusuf AmirLawyer for Nadiem Makarim, alleging bias during the trial proceedings.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Tempo in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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