The AGO Must Stop the Displays of Legal Populism

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - When investigating the alleged corruption in laptop provision at the Ministry of Education, the AGO is putting on a performance of the legal process. It is another act of legal populism.

THE Attorney General’s Office is once again presenting a show of the legal process in its investigation into the alleged corruption relating to the procurement of laptops at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. Rather than focusing on finding out who was involved, the AGO is giving the impression of focusing on attracting public attention through its actions.

The AGO is investigating the Rp9.982 trillion project to procure laptops at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology between 2020 and 2022, when the Ministry was headed by Nadiem Makarim. At least 28 witnesses have been questioned, three of them former special ministerial staffers. They are believed to have knowledge about the study that led to the recommendation to purchase Chromebooks, which use a cloud-based operating system. The AGO believes that this project caused losses to the state because these laptops can only be used when there is an Internet connection, but many regions are still not yet online.

Legal populism was apparent when staff from the AGO searched homes belonging to three members of Nadiem’s special staff. It published photos of the locations and the owners of the searched premises. But the fact is that the AGO has yet to name any suspects in the case, and it does not even know the total losses to the state resulting from the procurement of these laptops. The AGO is attempting to persuade the public to conclude that the people under investigation were involved in corruption. This type of populism is character assassination, because it will disadvantage these people if they are subsequently found not guilty.

But the decision about whether people are guilty or not is not in the hands of the people or the AGO. Only judges have this authority. And as long as there has not been a trial verdict, a person cannot be treated as if he or she were guilty. In investigating the procurement of Chromebooks, the AGO is ignoring the principle of innocence until proven guilty.

The AGO has repeatedly displayed this kind of legal populism. It arbitrarily mentions fantastic figures or names of prominent people at the preliminary stages of investigations. When announcing the results of the investigation into tin corruption, the AGO said that the losses to the state amounted to Rp271 trillion—a figure that subsequently increased to Rp300 trillion. The public was shocked and angry. But the AGO has still not proved this. And the people strongly suspected of being the masterminds have not yet been put on trial.

Legal populism has also led to the AGO putting a person on trial even though there is insufficient evidence. One example is the alleged corruption involving cooking oil at the Ministry of Trade, which resulted in Weibinanto Halimdjati, alias Lin Che Wei, being put on trial. In court, the AGO was unable to uncover any motive or prove that the Ministry of Trade consultant had benefited in any way.

The AGO should be more careful in investigating laptop procurement. Although it must be transparent, the AGO cannot use flawed practices of law enforcement. It must focus on finding compelling evidence to ascertain if there were indeed losses to the state. There is no need for bombastic claims. Rather, the AGO needs to obtain statements from those alleged to have known about the project, including Nadiem Makarim.

Without care, the legal process could go astray. Rather than showing that the people were disadvantaged due to the procurement of the wrong equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic, the process at the AGO will only produce commotion. And those who should take responsibility for their actions will walk free, untouched by the law.

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