Former KPK Investigator Baffled by KPK's Decision to Place Yaqut Under House Arrest: Highly Irregular!
Former KPK investigator Yudi Purnomo Harahap has expressed bafflement at the Corruption Eradication Commission’s decision to place former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas under house arrest. Yudi described the decision as highly irregular.
“This raises questions—perhaps the KPK lacks confidence in the evidence they have gathered so far, both domestically and internationally, to the point of altering the detention status,” Yudi told reporters on Sunday (22/3/2026).
Yudi stated that the KPK must be open in explaining to the public the reasons for placing Yaqut under house arrest. He reminded that suspects could potentially destroy evidence or influence witness testimonies if not held at the KPK Detention Centre.
“This is highly irregular, and the KPK must revoke (Yaqut’s house arrest status). Even if the reason is illness, the appropriate action would be isolation in a hospital, after which, once recovered, they would be returned to the detention centre,” he said.
According to Yudi, the KPK’s step in granting house arrest to Yaqut is feared to impact the legal processes of other cases at the KPK. It is not impossible that other detainees will demand the same treatment as Yaqut.
“This will create chaos as it will damage the high-integrity anti-corruption system that the KPK has built since its establishment. Moreover, transparency to the public only emerged when a detainee’s family informed the public about Gus Yaqut not being in custody,” Yudi explained.
As is known, the KPK has switched the detention of former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas to house arrest. Yaqut received this status after seven days in KPK custody.
The change in Yaqut’s detention status was not first announced by the KPK. Yaqut’s absence from the KPK Detention Centre was initially revealed by the wife of former Deputy Minister of Manpower Immanuel Ebenezer (Noel), Silvia Rinita Harefa, after visiting Noel during Eid on Saturday (21/3).
Following the widespread testimony from Noel’s wife, the KPK finally spoke out to explain Yaqut’s whereabouts. On Saturday night (21/3), KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo stated that Yaqut is currently under house arrest.
“It is true that investigators have changed the type of detention for suspect YCQ from custody at the KPK Detention Centre to house arrest, since Thursday night (19/3),” Budi said on Saturday (21/3).
The KPK did not provide a clear reason for the change in Yaqut’s detention status. The KPK only stated that house arrest for Yaqut is temporary.
Budi also stated that the switch of Yaqut to house arrest was not due to health factors. Budi said that house arrest for Yaqut was implemented after the KPK received a request from the family. The KPK then granted the request without providing further details on the family’s reasons for submitting the application.
“It is not because of illness. It was indeed due to a request from the family, which we then processed,” Budi clarified.