The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has granted the family\u2019s\nrequest to place the suspect in the Hajj quota allocation case, former\nMinister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, under house\narrest.<\/p>\n
The younger brother of PBNU General Chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf was\npreviously reported to have left KPK custody to become a house detainee\nsince Thursday (19\/3). In other words, the former PP GP Ansor General\nChairman\u2014NU\u2019s youth wing\u2014could celebrate Eid at home on Saturday\n(21\/3).<\/p>\n
According to the KPK\u2019s statement, Yaqut\u2019s detention was transferred\nto house arrest based on the family\u2019s request, and not due to health\nfactors.<\/p>\n
Several parties have criticised the KPK\u2019s move regarding the transfer\nof former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas\u2019s detention\nstatus to house arrest. On 12 March 2026, KPK detained Yaqut at the\nKPK\u2019s Red and White Building Branch State Detention House after his\npre-trial was rejected on 11 March 2026.<\/p>\n
Anti-corruption activist Emerson Yuntho stated that since KPK\u2019s\nestablishment in 2003, this is the first time a suspect has had their\ndetention status transferred to house arrest. Moreover, the transfer was\nbased on a family request, without a health reason.<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout the history of @KPK_RI<\/span>\u2019s establishment, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas\nis recorded as the first corruption suspect whose detention status was\ntransferred to House Detention. This transition will certainly create\njealousy\u2014discrimination for other KPK suspects\/defendants,\u201d stated\nEmerson via his X account @emerson_yuntho<\/span> on Sunday (22\/3).<\/p>\n CNNIndonesia.com has been permitted to quote his statement on social\nmedia.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is best for @KPK_RI<\/span> to immediately return Yaqut Cholil\nQoumas to KPK detention. If not done, negative sentiment will emerge for\nthis institution. KPK will be seen as discriminatory, selective, or\nweak,\u201d added the man who once worked with Indonesia Corruption Watch\n(ICW).<\/p>\n Former senior KPK investigator Novel Baswedan also noted that this is\nthe first time the anti-corruption agency has transferred a status to\nhouse arrest. And Yaqut is the pioneer in experiencing it.<\/p>\n Therefore, Novel, who was removed from KPK during the Firli Bahuri\nera through the controversial National Insight Test (TWK), urged the KPK\nOversight Board (Dewas) to intervene.<\/p>\n \u201cExtraordinary.. For the first time, KPK transfers a detainee to\nhouse detention because of Eid. Is this a KPK achievement? The Dewas\nshould examine the KPK officials who carried out the detention transfer,\nespecially since they even promoted it. This is outrageous and should\nnot be emulated,\u201d he wrote on his X account on Monday (23\/3).<\/p>\n A similar statement was made by the Coordinator of the Indonesian\nAnti-Corruption Society (MAKI) Boyamin Saiman, while mocking that KPK\nhas \u2018broken a record\u2019 since its establishment in 2003.<\/p>\n According to him, it is the first time KPK has approved the transfer\nof detention status from detention centre to house arrest due to a\nfamily request that is not for health reasons.<\/p>\n \u201cKPK has the authority to detain, also the right to transfer, and the\nright to suspend. And KPK has previously suspended people who were\ndetained due to illness, the reasons were always strong,\u201d he said in a\nstatement to CNNIndonesia.com on Sunday.<\/p>\n Furthermore, he added, even suspension due to illness cannot be done\njust based on a family request, but requires strong medical evidence. He\ncited examples such as former Papua Governor Lukas Enembe, North Konawe\nRegent Aswad Sulaiman, and a mining businessman in West Kalimantan.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they are not detained, or then their detention is suspended to\nhouse arrest or whatever, it is because they are truly ill.\u00a0But in the\ncontext of Yaqut, which is not because of illness, I really don\u2019t know\nwhat the reason is. So I say [KPK suspect transferred to house arrest\nwithout health reasons] is a record,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In addition, Boyamin questioned the reason KPK approved Yaqut\u2019s\ndetention quietly, which only came to public knowledge on Saturday from\nhis wife\u2019s statement. According to him, the KPK Law strictly regulates\nthe principle of openness, so the determination of suspects, detention,\nto non-detention must be announced to the public.<\/p>\n \u201cDisappointed because it was done secretly. It damages the system and\nthe discrimination that will trigger similar demands from other\ndetainees,\u201d said Boyamin.<\/p>\n \u201cKPK must carry out re-detention. And the KPK Dewas must investigate\nallegations of code of ethics violations,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n ICW also urged KPK to be transparent regarding the change in Yaqut\u2019s\nstatus to house arrest. ICW assesses that this status creates the\nimpression of special treatment given by KPK to Yaqut.<\/p>\n ICW researcher Wana Alamsyah said that so far, KPK has had strict\nstandards in suspending corruption suspects\u2019 detention. However, in\nYaqut\u2019s case, no detailed explanation was provided by KPK.<\/p>\n \u201cBased on ICW\u2019s records, the detention transfers carried out by KPK\nare quite strict, one of which is due to health reasons,\u201d he said to\nreporters on Sunday.<\/p>\n ICW also warned KPK of the potential impacts of making Yaqut a house\ndetainee. ICW fears Yaqut could eliminate evidence or influence\nwitnesses in the ongoing Hajj quota corruption investigation.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will become a bad precedent for corruption eradication in\nIndonesia. Because suspects have the potential to destroy and eliminate\nevidence, or influence witnesses when under house arrest,\u201d said\nWana.<\/p>\n Furthermore, Wana also urged the KPK Dewas to examine KPK leaders.\nICW assesses that the change in Yaqut\u2019s status to house arrest is\ninseparable from the approval of KPK leaders.<\/p>\n \u201cThe KPK Dewas must conduct an examination of KPK leaders regarding\nthis case. Because it is reasonable to suspect that KPK leaders knew and\ngave approval to move YCQ from detention centre to house arrest,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/yaqut-becomes-first-kpk-house-detainee-despite-not-being-ill-1774266675",
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