Hilman Latief Questioned by the KPK: No Discussion on Receiving Hajj Quota Funds

Former Director General of Hajj and Umrah Organising at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Hilman Latief, said there was no discussion about alleged receipt of money related to the 2023-2024 Hajj quota when he appeared as a witness before the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) today, Wednesday, 20 May. He completed the examination at about 19:15 Western Indonesian Time (WIB). ‘There was no such discussion,’ Hilman told reporters when asked about the alleged payments, at the KPK office in Jakarta on Wednesday evening. Hilman only explained that he had provided investigators with explanations regarding the distribution of the Hajj quota into special and regular quotas, each at 50 percent. According to the KPK, the distribution runs counter to Law Number 8 of 2019 on the Management of Hajj and Umrah, which sets the special-quota share at 8 percent of Indonesia’s Hajj quota, the majority of which is allocated to regular quota. ‘I have conveyed that to the investigators,’ Hilman said briefly. As of the time of writing, there has been no official statement from the KPK about the result of his examination.

Previously, the KPK had questioned Muhadjir Effendy, the Interim Minister of Religion in 2022, who is also a Muhammadiyah cadre, as a witness. The questioning aimed to explore obtaining and management of the 2022 quota. ‘Investigators asked for explanations from the witness regarding the assignment as Interim Minister of Religion in 2022, as well as the additional quota for 2022,’ KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo said on Monday night, 18 May.

To date, the KPK has named four suspects in the case alleged to have caused state losses of Rp 622 billion. They are former Religious Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and his Senior Special Staff named Ishfah Abidal Aziz alias Gus Alex, who have already been detained. The other two suspects, not detained, are Ismail Adham, Operational Director of PT Makassar Toraja (Maktour); and Asrul Azis Taba, Commissioner of PT Raudah Eksati Utama and simultaneously Chairman of Asosiasi Kesthuri. In handling the Hajj quota case, the KPK applies Article 2(1) and/or Article 3 of the Law on the Eradication of Corruption (UU Tipikor) read together with Article 55(1) 1 of the Indonesian Penal Code, or as referred to in Article 603 or 604 of the Indonesian KUHP Law Number 1 of 2023 on KUHP read together with Article 20 letter (c) of the KUHP.