Pre-Trial Hearing Verdict Scheduled for 11 March: Yaqut Claims Relief, KPK Requests Prayers
Judge Sulistyo Muhammad Dwi Putro of Jakarta’s South District Court has scheduled the verdict hearing in pre-trial case number 19/Pid.Pra/2026 concerning applicant Yaqut Cholil Qoumas in relation to the alleged hajj quota corruption case for Wednesday, 11 March 2025.
“The verdict will be delivered on 11 March at 10:00 Western Indonesian Time,” said the judge in the Oemar Seno Adji courtroom at Jakarta’s South District Court on Monday (9 March).
Yaqut expresses relief
During today’s proceedings, Yaqut was present in person and stated his gratitude that there was understanding amongst several expert witnesses who declared that the KPK’s designation of him as a suspect was invalid.
“I am deeply grateful because there is understanding, tafahum, between the respondent’s experts and the applicant’s experts on several matters. Most importantly, both the applicant’s and respondent’s experts agree that the designation of a suspect must go through a process or there must already be state losses beforehand,” Yaqut said.
Yaqut expressed relief that the pre-trial proceedings have been conducted openly and objectively. Both the applicant and respondent parties have received fair time and space.
“As a citizen seeking legal justice, I must state frankly that I feel greatly relieved,” he added.
KPK requests prayers, rejects Yaqut’s pre-trial challenge
At the same time, KPK’s Deputy for Enforcement and Execution Asep Guntur Rahayu requested prayers from the public so his institution could continue investigating the alleged additional hajj quota corruption case.
“On this occasion we request prayers from all Indonesian citizens so that we may continue handling this hajj quota matter and the people harmed can obtain justice,” Asep said when contacted via written message.
Asep assured that the hajj quota case has been handled in accordance with procedures and legal provisions.
“We are convinced that what we have done formally complies with legislation and internal KPK regulations. Regarding its continuation, we await the pre-trial verdict,” he added.
Meanwhile, KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo hopes that single judge Sulistyo Muhammad Dwi Putro will entirely reject Yaqut’s pre-trial challenge.
“We are confident the judge will accept the KPK’s arguments through the Legal Bureau and declare that all formal aspects of the investigation procedure, including the designation of a suspect, comply with legal provisions and sufficient valid evidence,” Budi said.
“Therefore we are confident that in tomorrow’s verdict the judge will reject the applicant’s petition and declare that the designation of suspect YCQ [Yaqut Cholil Qoumas] in this case is valid,” he concluded.
The KPK’s Legal Bureau determined that Yaqut’s legal counsel made an error in determining the object of the lawsuit, or error in objecto. Additionally, the legal counsel’s petition arguments are deemed not within the jurisdiction of pre-trial judges to hear.
“The applicant’s arguments essentially concern the suspect designation letter, the notice of suspect designation, the authority of the respondent’s leadership in the suspect designation letter, calculation of state financial loss, criminal procedure law applied in handling this matter, are arguments that fall outside the scope of pre-trial proceedings or beyond the formal aspects within pre-trial judges’ jurisdiction,” said the KPK’s Legal Bureau.
They explained the scope of pre-trial judges’ authority as stipulated in Article 1 number 10 read in conjunction with Article 77 of the 1981 Criminal Code, along with Constitutional Court Decision No. 21 of 2014 dated 28 April 2015, and Supreme Court Regulation No. 4 of 2016.
The KPK’s Legal Bureau stated that calculation of state financial loss also falls outside pre-trial scope.
“The suspect designation letter and notice of suspect designation are administrative documents in investigation or administrative-judicial matters, not coercive measures, and therefore not within pre-trial scope,” it said.
“Similarly, the respondent leadership’s authority, calculation of state financial loss, and the criminal procedure law applied in handling this matter are not within pre-trial scope,” it added.
Yaqut together with his Special Staff named Ishfah Abidal Aziz, alias Gus Alex, were designated by the KPK as suspects in the alleged additional hajj quota corruption case. However, neither has been detained.
The KPK has requested the Immigration Directorate General to prevent Yaqut and Ishfah from leaving the country for six months until 12 August 2026.
Based on calculations by the State Audit Board (BPK), the state allegedly suffered losses of Rp622,090,207,166.41 (Rp622 billion) from the alleged additional hajj quota corruption case for the 2023 and 2024 pilgrimages.
This figure was released some time after Yaqut and Ishfah were designated and publicly announced by the KPK as suspects.