MAKI Urges KPK Oversight Board to Examine Leaders' Phones Over Yaqut Detention Status Controversy

Jakarta – MAKI coordinator Boyamin Saiman has urged the KPK Oversight Board to examine the mobile phones of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders.

Boyamin made this statement after providing testimony to the KPK Oversight Board on Monday, 20 April 2026.

Boyamin explained that examining the phones is necessary to determine whether KPK leaders received any interventions regarding the controversy over changing the detention status of former Minister of Religious Affairs (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.

“My proposal to the Oversight Board is to request the availability of the KPK leaders’ handphones from that time, dates 16, 17, 18 up to 22, to retrieve who they chatted with and the contents,” Boyamin told reporters, quoted on Tuesday, 21 April 2026.

“I, to strengthen the evidence of intervention, am requesting the Oversight Board to ask the KPK leaders to open their handphones during that period to reveal their communications with whom,” he added.

Additionally, Boyamin proposed a salary cut sanction for KPK leaders of 5 per cent due to the change in detention status.

“I have submitted with my conviction for a salary cut sanction, at least 5 per cent against the KPK leaders. But not for Mr Asep and the spokesperson, because they were just following orders,” he said.

Furthermore, Boyamin highlighted the reason given by KPK for placing Yaqut under house arrest as an investigative strategy. According to him, this was merely an excuse by the KPK.

“If it’s an investigative strategy, there should be planning, implementation, and accountability. And from the information obtained, there is none. So there is no investigative strategy; it’s just a later justification,” he concluded.

For context, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas was placed under house arrest after his family petitioned the KPK on 17 March 2026. The KPK granted the request and ensured Yaqut would still be monitored.

Yaqut had previously been named a suspect in an alleged corruption case related to Indonesia’s 2023-2024 Hajj quota by the KPK on 9 January 2026. He was officially detained on 12 March 2026 as a suspect after his pre-trial was rejected.

On 23 March 2026, the KPK announced it was processing the change of Yaqut’s detention from house arrest back to detention centre. On 24 March 2026, Yaqut arrived at the KPK’s Red and White Building and was then placed in detention centre.