Banser members fill courtroom for former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut's pretrial hearing at South Jakarta District Court
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Members of Barisan Ansor Serbaguna (Banser) filled the grounds and courtroom of the South Jakarta District Court for the pretrial hearing of former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, relating to his designation as a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in an alleged corruption case involving additional hajj quotas for the 2023-2024 hajj seasons.
Based on observations at the location at 10.30 Western Indonesian Time, dozens of personnel wearing camouflage uniforms were seen spread across various areas of the South Jakarta District Court. They appeared to be maintaining security ahead of the pretrial hearing.
In the main courtroom of the South Jakarta District Court, media crews filled the space, spilling out beyond the room. They set up cameras in preparation for coverage.
The pretrial hearing for former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas was scheduled for 10.00 Western Indonesian Time at the South Jakarta District Court.
Yaqut filed his pretrial application with the South Jakarta District Court challenging his designation as a suspect by the KPK in the alleged corruption case involving additional hajj quotas for the 2023-2024 hajj seasons.
Yaqut registered the application on Tuesday (10 February) and it was recorded under case number 19/Pid.Pra/2026/PN JKT.SEL.
The South Jakarta District Court’s Case Tracking Information System did not display the full petition requested, and the identity of the single judge assigned to examine and adjudicate the case had not yet been disclosed.
The KPK confirmed in January 2026 that former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas had been named a suspect in the alleged corruption case related to the determination of quotas and administration of hajj at the Ministry of Religious Affairs for 2023-2024.
Previously, on 9 August 2025, the KPK announced it had commenced an investigation into the alleged hajj quota corruption case and stated it was in communication with the Supreme Audit Agency to calculate state losses.
On 11 August 2025, the KPK announced that preliminary calculations of state losses in the case exceeded Rp1 trillion and imposed travel bans on three individuals for up to six months.
Those subject to travel bans were former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, Ishfah Abidal Aziz, known as Gus Alex, a former special staff member during Yaqut’s tenure as minister, and Fuad Hasan Masyhur, owner of hajj travel agency Maktour.
On 18 September 2025, the KPK suspected that as many as 13 associations and 400 hajj travel agencies were implicated in the case.
In addition to the KPK investigation, the House of Representatives’ Special Inquiry Committee on Hajj had previously stated it had uncovered a number of irregularities in the administration of the 2024 hajj.
The main point highlighted by the committee concerned the 50-50 distribution of the 20,000 additional quota granted by the Saudi Arabian government.
At the time, the Ministry of Religious Affairs divided the additional quota into 10,000 for regular hajj and 10,000 for special hajj.
This allocation was inconsistent with Article 64 of Law Number 8 of 2019 on the Administration of Hajj and Umrah, which stipulates that the special hajj quota should be eight per cent, with 92 per cent allocated to the regular hajj quota.