Court Rejects Yaqut Cholil Qoumas's Request for House Arrest
The panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court has rejected a request by former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas to have his detention status changed to house arrest. Yaqut is a defendant in a case of alleged corruption in the distribution of the 2023-2024 hajj quota.
Presiding Judge Ni Kadek Susantiani said the request could not yet be granted because Yaqut’s health needs were considered still manageable by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) detention centre. “There are actually two needs of the defendant after surgery: first, regularity in taking medication, and second, wound cleaning. So the complaint relates to a caregiver not being available at the KPK detention centre,” Ni Kadek said during the hearing at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday (18/8).
According to the judge, the availability of health facilities and services for Yaqut is the responsibility of the KPK detention centre. The panel therefore asked the detention centre to ensure that the health needs of every detainee can be met. “With regard to this matter, this is certainly a note for the detention centre and the public prosecutor concerning the health facilities there, and how every detainee there can obtain health facilities,” she said.
“With regard to this matter, we cannot yet grant the request because his needs relate only to those two matters,” she continued.
Ni Kadek also asked Yaqut and his legal team to consult doctors at the KPK detention centre if his health condition becomes an emergency. She said the detention centre doctor could later convey the examination results and Yaqut’s condition to the panel of judges as a basis for determining whether the defendant requires hospital treatment.
“But if you experience a medical emergency that requires you to be rushed to hospital, please consult the doctor at the KPK. The KPK doctor will later inform us whether inpatient care is really needed or whether it is merely outpatient treatment,” Ni Kadek said.
Yaqut’s lawyer, Mellisa Anggraini, had previously said that the KPK detention centre clinic had issued a referral for her client to be examined immediately at a surgical polyclinic. According to Mellisa, Yaqut’s condition is vulnerable to infection.
Responding to this, the judge allowed Yaqut’s legal team to apply for permission to seek outside medical treatment if the doctor at the KPK detention centre is unable to handle his condition. “If that is the case, please go ahead. Later, if you wish to apply, we must examine it first. We do not know the doctor’s diagnosis regarding the defendant’s condition today,” Ni Kadek said.
“If the doctor at the detention centre really cannot handle it, please apply for permission to seek medical treatment first so that we can know the defendant’s condition,” she continued.
In addition to rejecting Yaqut’s request for house arrest, the panel of judges also rejected a request for a stay of detention filed by Asrul Aziz Taba, chairman of the Indonesian Hajj and Umrah Travel Association (Kesthuri).
Meanwhile, Yaqut’s trial will continue on Friday (21/8) with the agenda of the public prosecutor’s response to the objection or exception submitted by Yaqut and his legal team.
In this case, Yaqut has been charged with causing state losses of Rp622,090,207,166.41, or around Rp622 billion, in connection with alleged corruption in the distribution of additional hajj quotas for 2023-2024.
KPK prosecutors charged Yaqut with committing the acts together with Asrul Aziz Taba, his former special staff member Ishfah Abidal Aziz alias Gus Alex, and the operations director of PT Makassar Toraja (Maktour), Ismail Adham.
Prosecutors said the filling of the additional special hajj quota for 2023-2024 by the defendants contravened applicable legal provisions. The filling was allegedly carried out to accommodate requests from the Association of Special Hajj Organisers (PIHK).
In the indictment, Yaqut is said to have enriched himself by US$271,500. Using the exchange rate cited in the indictment, this is equivalent to around Rp4.83 billion.
Besides Yaqut, prosecutors said the case also enriched a number of other parties, including 313 special hajj organiser corporations.
Prosecutors also suspect that there was a practice of buying and selling special hajj quotas, buying and selling hajj officer quotas, and the provision of acceleration fees. The practice allegedly caused pilgrims who should have departed for the hajj to fail to depart, while pilgrims who were not entitled to go were able to depart.
In response to the indictment, Yaqut and his legal team have submitted an objection that essentially challenges the prosecutor’s charges. One of the objections raised concerns the policy of dividing the additional hajj quota into 50 per cent for regular hajj and 50 per cent for special hajj, which was said to have been carried out with consideration for the safety of pilgrims.