Anti-Corruption Commission: Additional 20,000 Pilgrimage Quotas for 2024 Should Be Allocated to Regular Hajj
Jakarta – Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has stated that Saudi Arabia’s additional 20,000 hajj quotas for 2024 should be allocated entirely to the regular hajj programme.
“These 20,000 quotas should indeed be for regular hajj quotas because the reason for requesting them from the Saudi Government was that regular hajj applicants have been waiting for quite a long time,” said Asep Guntur Rahayu, Deputy for Enforcement and Execution at the KPK, during a press conference held in Jakarta on Friday.
Asep explained that in June 2023, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced that Indonesia had been allocated 221,000 main hajj quotas for 2024, plus 2,210 quotas for personnel. Subsequently, in October 2023, the Indonesian Government held discussions with the Saudi Government, during which Indonesia was granted an additional 20,000 quotas.
According to him, Saudi Arabia granted this increase because Indonesian hajj pilgrims had to wait for decades to travel, with some waiting as long as 47 years to depart.
“It is important to note that the reason Saudi Arabia provided these 20,000 additional quotas to the Indonesian Government was because regular hajj quotas have a waiting list of up to 47 years,” he stated.
Asep made these remarks to clarify the structure of the hajj quota case involving the suspect and former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.
The KPK announced on 9 August 2025 that it had begun investigating alleged corruption related to Indonesia’s hajj quotas for 2023–2024. On 11 August 2025, the KPK announced preliminary calculations showing state losses of over Rp1 trillion and imposed travel bans on three individuals for up to six months. These individuals were Yaqut, Ishfah Abidal Aziz (known as Gus Alex), Yaqut’s staff member, and Fuad Hasan Masyhur, owner of the hajj travel agency Maktour.
On 9 January 2026, the KPK announced that two of the three individuals under travel restrictions had become suspects in the alleged corruption case: Yaqut and Gus Alex.
However, Yaqut filed a pre-trial motion challenging his status as a suspect at the Jakarta South District Court on 10 February 2026, registered under case number 19/Pid.Pra/2026/PN JKT.SEL.
On 19 February 2026, the KPK announced it had extended the travel ban only for Yaqut and Gus Alex, whilst Fuad’s restriction was not extended. On 27 February 2026, the KPK announced it had received an audit from the State Audit Board (BPK) regarding state financial losses from the hajj quota case. Subsequently, on 4 March 2026, the KPK announced that state financial losses from the case totalled Rp622 billion.
On 11 March 2026, the panel of judges at Jakarta South District Court rejected Yaqut’s pre-trial motion. On 12 March 2026, the KPK detained Yaqut at the KPK’s Red and White Building State Detention Facility.