Lawyer Slams State Loss in Additional Hajj Quota as Yaqut Is Named a Suspect
Lawyer Slams State Loss in Additional Hajj Quota as Yaqut Is Named a Suspect
The legal team for former Indonesian Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas questioned the result of the state-financial loss calculation in the case of alleged corruption related to the additional Hajj quota, released after their client was named a suspect through the Investigative Warrants (Sprindik) dated 8 January 2026.
According to Yaqut’s counsel, Mellisa Anggraini, in every suspect designation, the real, concrete and definite state losses must first be proven by law enforcement authorities.
‘Because without such losses, the criminal act of corruption that is admitted would not be found,’ Mellisa said while reading her replication in the pretrial hearing at the South Jakarta District Court, Wednesday (4 March).
She explained that Articles 2 and 3 of the Corruption Eradication Act (UU Tipikor) have been interpreted as a material offence through the Constitutional Court decision (MK) No. 25 of 2016. She stressed that the state losses must be real.
‘There is not a single piece of evidence up to 8 January 2026 showing any calculation of state financial losses, including the amount of the loss, the source or the consequences that produced the loss, or its direct link to the Applicant’s acts used as the basis for the suspect designation,’ Mellisa said.
Mellisa revealed that her side has found many procedural errors committed by the KPK in investigating the alleged corruption case concerning the additional Hajj quota.
On that basis, they filed a pretrial to challenge the process carried out by the KPK at the pretrial court.
Mellisa asked the judges to annul three Investigative Warrants (Sprindik) that formed the basis for KPK’s legal action against her client in the case of the alleged corruption related to the additional Hajj quota.
The three warrants are: Surat Number: Sprin.Dik/61/DIK.00/01/08/2025 dated 8 August 2025; Surat Number: Sprin.Dik/61A.2025/DIK.00/01/11/2025 dated 21 November 2025; and Surat Number: Sprin.Dik/01/Dik.00/01/01/2026 dated 8 January 2026.
Yaqut together with his Special Staff named Ishfah Abidal Aziz alias Gus Alex was named as a suspect by the KPK in the case of the alleged corruption related to the additional Hajj quota. However, both have not yet been detained.
Nevertheless, the KPK has asked the Directorate General of Immigration to again prevent Yaqut and Ishfah from leaving the country for six months until 12 August 2026.
During the investigation, the KPK has rummaged through various places such as Yaqut’s residence in Condet, East Jakarta, a Hajj and Umrah travel agency office in Jakarta, the home of a civil servant at the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Depok, and the office of the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah (PHU) of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Many items believed to be connected to the case were seized, including documents, Electronic Evidence (BBE), and even four-wheeled vehicles and properties.
According to the Audit Board (BPK) calculation, the state suffered a loss of Rp622,090,207,166.41 (Rp622 billion) related to the additional Hajj quota case for the 2023 and 2024 implementation years.
The figure was released some time ago, long after Yaqut and Ishfah were designated and announced as suspects by the KPK.