KPK: Yaqut Cholil Qoumas Placed Under House Arrest Not Due to Illness
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has explained that Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, the suspect in the alleged corruption case concerning Hajj quotas and former Minister of Religious Affairs, was placed under house arrest not due to illness.
“It is not because of his health condition,” said KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo to journalists in Jakarta on Sunday.
Budi further explained that Yaqut was placed under house arrest due to a request from the suspect’s family.
“So, it was because of a request from the family, and then we processed it,” he said.
Previously, on 21 March 2026, the wife of the defendant in the alleged extortion corruption case and former Deputy Minister of Manpower Immanuel Ebenezer Gerungan, Silvia Rinita Harefa, spoke to journalists after visiting her husband.
Silvia told the journalists waiting for her that information was circulating among the detainees regarding Yaqut not being seen in the state detention centre or rutan.
“I didn’t see Gus Yaqut earlier. The info is that he left on Thursday night (19/3),” said Silvia on Saturday (21/3) afternoon.
“People inside say he’s not there. He’s not there,” she said.
When further questioned whether only Ebenezer knew about this information, she stated that all detainees knew.
“Everyone knows about it. They’re just wondering. They said there was an examination, but it’s impossible to have an examination on the eve of Takbiran night. Even until today (Saturday, 21/3), there hasn’t been any,” she said.
Therefore, she suggested that journalists verify the information she received.
“You guys should check the info again. That’s all the info,” she said.
Yaqut was placed under house arrest after his family requested it from the KPK on 17 March 2026. The KPK has assured that it will continue to monitor Yaqut.
It is known that Yaqut was named as one of the suspects in the alleged corruption case related to Indonesia’s Hajj quota for 2023-2024 by the KPK on 9 January 2026.
On 12 March 2026, the KPK detained Yaqut at the KPK’s Red and White Building Branch State Detention Centre after his pre-trial was rejected on 11 March 2026. The case is said by the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPK) of Indonesia to have caused state losses of up to Rp622 billion.