Former Minister Yaqut's Suspect Status Upheld; When Will KPK Make Arrest?

A judicial review (praperadilan) filed by former Religious Affairs Minister (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas concerning his suspect status in an alleged hajj quota corruption case has been rejected by the court, confirming his suspect status as legally valid.

The judge determined that the KPK’s designation of Yaqut as a suspect followed proper procedures and applicable regulations. The judge stated that judicial review proceedings can only assess formal aspects.

“The court rejects the petitioner’s entire judicial review request,” said single judge Sulistyo Muhamad Dwi Putro whilst delivering the ruling in case number 19/Pid.Pra/2026/PN JKT.SEL at the South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday (11 March 2026).

“Case costs are imposed on the petitioner in the amount of zero,” the judge added.

The alleged corruption case relates to the distribution of an additional 20,000 hajj pilgrims for the 2024 hajj quota during Yaqut Cholil Qoumas’ tenure as Religious Affairs Minister. The additional quota was intended to reduce the waiting period for Indonesian regular hajj pilgrims, which could reach 20 years or more.

Prior to the additional quota, Indonesia had been allocated 221,000 hajj pilgrims for 2024. After the increase, the total Indonesian hajj quota for 2024 rose to 241,000. The controversy emerged when the additional quota was divided equally: 10,000 for regular hajj and 10,000 for special hajj.

However, the Hajj Law stipulates that special hajj quotas should constitute only 8 per cent of Indonesia’s total hajj allocation. Consequently, Indonesia ultimately utilised 213,320 quota places for regular hajj pilgrims and 27,680 for special hajj pilgrims in 2024.

The KPK stated that the policy implemented during Yaqut’s tenure resulted in 8,400 regular hajj pilgrims who had been in the queue for more than 14 years being unable to depart, despite the additional quota becoming available in 2024.

Following its investigation, the KPK designated Yaqut and his former aide, Ishfah Abidal Aziz (IAA), also known as Gus Alex, as suspects.

Yaqut’s Legal Team’s Position

Yaqut’s legal team contended that the judge failed to consider the evidence they presented.

“We naturally respect the judge’s decision today. However, we have serious reservations about this judicial review process because despite the numerous arguments we presented, the judge appears to have only examined two pieces of evidence. The quality and relevance of those pieces of evidence were not considered whatsoever,” said Yaqut’s lawyer, Mellisa Anggraini, following the hearing at South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday (11 March 2026).

Mellisa highlighted the KPK’s authority in designating Yaqut as a suspect, which was not addressed in the judicial review’s reasoning. She contended this could set a problematic precedent under the new Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP).

“The KPK’s authority in designating a suspect, which is explicitly outlined in the KUHAP and the KPK law that has been revised, was not discussed at all,” Mellisa stated.

Mellisa raised concerns regarding Yaqut’s legal rights. She maintained there was no legal certainty for her client.

“The binding document is the suspect designation letter, not the notification letter. Because the rights and legal certainty exist in the suspect designation letter. We have not received that to this day. As someone seeking justice, we no longer know what legal certainty looks like in this case,” she said.

The Judge’s Reasoning

The single judge at South Jakarta District Court rejected the judicial review petition filed by former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas regarding his suspect status in the alleged hajj quota corruption case. The judge determined that Yaqut’s designation as a suspect satisfied the minimum requirement for valid evidence.

“Considering that the respondent designated the petitioner as a suspect after gathering confirmation of a criminal offence based on two pieces of evidence, namely evidence T-4 through T-117 and supported by evidence T-135 and T-136, the designation of the petitioner as a suspect has met the legal requirements,” said single judge Sulistyo Muhamad Dwi Putro at South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday (11 March 2026).

The judge stated that Yaqut’s designation as a suspect conformed to the provisions of Article 1, paragraph 31 of Law Number 20 of 2025. The judge noted that judicial review proceedings can only assess formal aspects of a petition.

“Considering that the Constitutional Court Ruling Number 21 of 2014 affirms that the designation as a suspect must be based on a minimum of two valid pieces of evidence, a judicial review examination only assesses formal aspects—namely whether there are at least two valid pieces of evidence present—and does not engage with the substantive merits of the case,” the judge explained.

The judge dismissed various pieces of evidence presented by Yaqut, finding them not relevant. One such dismissal concerned a collection of news articles related to the case, as these were merely informational.

“Considering that evidence P-6a through P-7i, P-22a, and P-22b—being a collection of media news articles—are not relevant to this case as they are merely informational news articles, these pieces of evidence have legal grounds to be disregarded,” the judge stated.

“Considering that evidence P-18, P-19, P-20, P-21—being judgements from other district courts concerning judicial review decisions—these judgements have not yet become jurisprudence or legal precedent established by Indonesia’s Supreme Court, they are therefore disregarded,” the judge added.

To Be Questioned This Week

The KPK stated it had issued a summons for questioning to Yaqut Cholil Qoumas in connection with the alleged hajj quota corruption case. The summons was delivered to Yaqut’s team last week.

“When will he be called? The summons was sent out last week for this week,” said KPK Deputy for Prosecution and Execution Asep Guntur Rahayu to journalists at KPK headquarters in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Wednesday (11 March 2026).

However, Asep did not specify the exact timing of Yaqut’s questioning. He did, however, signal that the summons would likely be served towards the end of the week.

“Let’s wait and see, towards the end of the week. Thursday is considered the end of the week,” Asep said.