Facts from the Pre-Trial Hearing of Former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil
Former Religious Affairs Minister for the 2019-2024 period, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, attended the pre-trial hearing regarding his suspect status in a corruption case involving additional Hajj quotas, which was scheduled for Tuesday (February 24th).
The sole judge of the South Jakarta District Court, Sulistyo Muhammad Dwi Putro, postponed the pre-trial hearing of Yaqut Cholil Qoumas because the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), as the respondent, was not present.
The hearing was then postponed for one week, until March 3, 2026.
CNNIndonesia.com has compiled the facts from the hearing.
KPK Not Present
The KPK’s spokesperson, Budi Prasetyo, said that the KPK’s Legal Bureau team could not attend because they were scheduled to attend four other pre-trial hearings.
“The KPK, through the Legal Bureau, has submitted a postponement request for today’s hearing, considering that the team is simultaneously attending four other pre-trial hearings,” said Budi when contacted via text message on Tuesday (February 24th).
Reason for Equal Distribution of Hajj Quotas
Yaqut said that the reason he issued a ministerial regulation regulating the distribution of additional Hajj quotas, with 10,000 each for special and regular quotas, was to ensure the safety of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.
“The only consideration I made when determining the distribution of the quota was Hifzu an Nafs, protecting the safety of pilgrims because of the limited space available in (Saudi Arabia),” said Yaqut when attending the first pre-trial hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday (February 24th).
Yaqut explained that the decision to distribute the Hajj quota was based on an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Saudi Arabia, so the authority to regulate the Hajj is in the hands of the local government.
“The jurisdiction is there, we are bound by the regulations in Saudi Arabia, including the distribution of the quota because there is an MoU, we use it as a guideline so that the KMA (Minister of Religious Affairs Decision) was created,” he said.
Yaqut’s Team Claims Procedural Flaws
Yaqut’s lawyer, Mellisa Anggraini, revealed that they found many procedural errors made by the KPK in the investigation process. This is the reason Yaqut filed a pre-trial application.
“We have more than three points, including the use of Article 2 and Article 3 of the Law on Corruption Crimes (Law on Corruption), which have been revoked and are no longer in effect, and have been replaced with articles in the new Criminal Code,” said Mellisa at the South Jakarta District Court.
“However, they did not refer to it at all. So, from a procedural point of view, we see that there are many errors, many flaws, and we believe we have the right to test that in this hearing,” she continued.
Yaqut himself said that the filing of this pre-trial is to test the procedures carried out by the KPK, which led to his designation as a suspect.
Furthermore, Yaqut said that the case that befell him should not make leaders afraid to make policies because they may be questioned.
“That policies taken, even if they involve humanitarian considerations, may not necessarily be questioned.
“But that should not make our leaders afraid to take policies that benefit society, the nation, and the country. Indonesia cannot be built with leaders who are afraid. I think that’s it,” he said.
KPK’s Rebuttal
The KPK refuted Yaqut’s claim that the equal distribution of additional Hajj quotas was intended to ensure pilgrim safety. KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo said that the principle of Hifzu an Nafs, which was conveyed by Yaqut, was not in sync with the initial purpose of adding the Hajj quota.
“If we cross-check with the background, it is not in sync,” said Budi at the Merah Putih Building, Jakarta, on Tuesday (February 24th).
Budi said that the additional Hajj quota from the Saudi Arabian government was to reduce the queue of Indonesian Hajj pilgrims. However, the problem is that the distribution of the quota does not comply with the provisions, which makes the Hajj queue even longer.
The Case of the Hajj Quota
The additional Hajj quota, which is the object of the KPK’s investigation, was obtained after the 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, held a bilateral meeting with the Crown Prince, who is also the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, on October 19, 2023.
According to Article 64 paragraph 2 of Law Number 8 of 2019 concerning the Implementation of Hajj and Umrah, the special Hajj quota is set at 8 percent while the regular Hajj quota is 92 percent.
The additional Hajj quota of 20,000 should be distributed to regular Hajj pilgrims as many as 18,400 or equivalent to 92 percent, and the special Hajj quota as many as 1,600 or equivalent to 8 percent.
However, what actually happened was that it was distributed equally, 10,000 for the regular Hajj quota and 10,000 for the special Hajj quota. This is stated in the Minister of Religious Affairs Decree Number 130 of 2024, which was signed by the Minister of Religious Affairs at that time, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, on January 15, 2024.
The KPK then believes that there was an Act of Unlawful Conduct (PMH) related to the distribution of the additional Hajj quota.
According to the KPK’s initial calculations, this case is suspected of causing state financial losses of up to IDR 1 trillion.
In this case, Yaqut, along with his Special Staff, Ishfah Abidal Aziz, alias Gus Alex, have been named suspects by the KPK.
In the ongoing investigation process, the KPK has searched several places, including Yaqut’s residence in Condet, East Jakarta, the office of a Hajj and Umrah travel agency in Jakarta, the house of a Ministry of Religious Affairs ASN in Depok, and the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah (PHU) of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Many pieces of evidence allegedly related to the case were seized, including documents, electronic evidence, and four-wheeled vehicles and property.