Pre-trial Motion in Hajj Quota Corruption Case Rejected, Yaqut's Legal Team Speaks Out
Mellisa Anggraini, legal counsel for Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, the former Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs facing alleged corruption charges in connection with additional hajj quota fraud, has raised serious objections following the rejection of his pre-trial motion by Judge Sulistyo Muhammad Dwi Putro of the Jakarta South District Court.
Mellisa stated that the judge only considered the quantity of evidence rather than its quality in reaching his decision. “We respect the court’s decision. However, we have serious reservations about this trial process because despite the numerous arguments we presented, the pre-trial judge only examined the number of pieces of evidence that already exist—two of them. As for whether they are of good quality and relevance, this was not considered at all,” Mellisa said at Jakarta South District Court on Wednesday (11 March).
Mellisa lamented that the judge did not address the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) authority in designating the suspect. She warned that this pre-trial decision would set a poor precedent for the application of the new criminal procedure law.
“We believe this is a bad precedent concerning the implementation of the new KUHAP and the new KUHP, creating legal uncertainty here. Nonetheless, we will continue with all future legal proceedings,” she stated.
The judge had previously rejected the pre-trial motion (case number 19/Pid.Pra/2026) on behalf of Yaqut Cholil Qoumas in full. “In the principal case, we reject the petitioner’s pre-trial motion in its entirety,” the judge announced in the courtroom on Wednesday (11 March).
The judge determined that the KPK’s designation of Yaqut as a suspect complied with Constitutional Court Decision Number 21 of 2014 dated 28 April 2015 and the Supreme Court Regulation (Perma) Number 4 of 2016, thereby rejecting all of Yaqut’s petitions in their entirety.
Yaqut’s pre-trial motion was based partly on the argument that the KPK had not satisfied the requirement of two valid pieces of evidence when designating him as a suspect. He contended that the evidence used by the KPK lacked relevance to the essential elements of the offence, namely “causing loss to state finances or the state economy”.
Yaqut’s legal team considered this fundamental because, following the Constitutional Court Decision Number 25/PUU-XIV/2016, Articles 2(1) and 3 of the Anti-Corruption Law (and correspondingly Articles 603 and 604 of the new Criminal Code) must be understood as material offences, which require demonstrable and certain consequences—namely loss to state finances or the state economy—before a person can legally be designated as a suspect.
Yaqut and his special staff member Ishfah Abidal Aziz, also known as Gus Alex, were designated as suspects by the KPK in the alleged additional hajj quota corruption case. However, neither has been detained.
The KPK has, however, requested the Directorate General of Immigration to prevent Yaqut and Ishfah from leaving the country for six months until 12 August 2026.
During the investigation, the KPK has conducted searches at several locations, including Yaqut’s residence in Condet, East Jakarta, hajj and umrah travel agency offices in Jakarta, a residence of a Ministry of Religious Affairs civil servant in Depok, and the offices of the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah (PHU) within the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Substantial evidence has been confiscated, including documents, electronic evidence, vehicles, and property.
According to the State Audit Board (BPK), the state suffered losses totalling approximately 622.09 billion rupiahs (622 billion rupiah) from the alleged additional hajj quota corruption involving the provision of hajj services for 2023 and 2024. This figure was released some time after Yaqut and Ishfah were designated and announced as suspects by the KPK.