Lawyer Assures Former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Will Not Flee After Becoming House Detainee

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Yaqut Cholil Qoumas’s legal team has guaranteed that the former Minister of Religious Affairs will not flee during the legal proceedings in the alleged corruption case regarding the 2023-2024 Hajj quota, after his status was changed to house arrest. “Certainly, the legal advisors guarantee it,” stated Yaqut’s lawyer, Dodi S Abdulkadir, when contacted by Kompas.com on Monday (23/3/2026). He also noted that the transfer of Yaqut’s detention from the detention centre to house arrest has followed the applicable legal procedures. This transfer of detention was carried out based on a request from the family submitted on Tuesday (17/3/2026). As is known, in this case, Yaqut is alleged to have carried out several conditionings to regulate the 2023-2024 Hajj quota, from changing regulations to technical implementation. Yaqut first relaxed the special Hajj quota regulations by instructing the Director General of Hajj and Umrah Organisers (PHU), Hilman Latief. The new regulation was designed to divide the additional Hajj quota with a proportion of 50 percent for regular Hajj and 50 percent for special Hajj. This proportion violates Article 64 paragraph 2 of Law Number 8 of 2019 concerning the Organisation of Hajj and Umrah Worship, which regulates the division of additional Hajj quotas with a proportion of 92 percent for regular Hajj and 8 percent for special Hajj.