Former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Arrested by Anti-Corruption Commission
Former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) on Thursday, 12 March, as a suspect in an alleged corruption case involving additional pilgrimage quotas.
Yaqut was detained following questioning conducted throughout the day. He has been held for an initial 20-day period related to the alleged additional hajj quota corruption case. The detention occurred after Yaqut completed questioning as a suspect beginning in the afternoon.
At KPK’s Red and White Building, Yaqut was seen wearing the distinctive orange detention jacket with handcuffs, escorted by KPK officers and police personnel.
“I never accepted even a single rupiah from the allegations against me, and I implemented all these policies solely for the safety of pilgrims,” Yaqut stated just before being escorted to the detention vehicle at the KPK office in Jakarta on Thursday evening.
Members of Barisan Ansor Serbaguna (Banser), the semi-autonomous paramilitary wing of the Ansor Youth Movement, also attended the questioning process at the building grounds. They expressed their belief that Yaqut was being criminalised for policies he had implemented.
“The KPK is tyrannical, the KPK is tyrannical,” they repeatedly chanted.
Earlier, Yaqut had responded to a KPK summons for further questioning as a suspect on Thursday afternoon. This marked his first questioning following the rejection of his pretrial motion by a judge.
Yaqut arrived at the KPK’s Red and White Building around 1 p.m. wearing a cream jacket and black peci. He told journalists he would provide the information he possessed.
“This is my opportunity to give my statement,” Yaqut said to journalists upon arriving at the KPK headquarters on Thursday afternoon.
Yaqut and his special staff member Ishfah Abidal Aziz, alias Gus Alex, have been designated as suspects by the KPK in the alleged additional hajj quota corruption case. However, neither has been detained until now.
Nevertheless, the KPK has requested the Directorate General of Immigration to again prevent Yaqut and Ishfah from leaving the country for six months until 12 August 2026.
During the ongoing investigation, the KPK has conducted searches at several locations including Yaqut’s residence in Condet, East Jakarta; hajj and umrah travel agency offices in Jakarta; an ASN residence from the Religious Affairs Ministry in Depok; and the office of the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah (PHU) at the Religious Affairs Ministry.
Numerous pieces of evidence alleged to be related to the case have been seized, including documents, electronic evidence, vehicles, and property.
Based on calculations by the State Audit Board (BPK), the state reportedly suffered losses of approximately 622.090.207.166,41 rupiah (622 billion rupiah) from the alleged additional hajj quota corruption case for the 2023 and 2024 pilgrimage seasons.