Yaqut: 'All that is true will be revealed' ahead of first trial

Former Religious Affairs Minister for the 2020-2024 period, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, has stated he is prepared to face the first hearing of the alleged hajj quota corruption case at the Corruption Court in Central Jakarta on Tuesday. ‘Doakan lah, all that is true will be revealed,’ he said while waiting for the trial to begin. ‘I am resigned, I surrender to Allah,’ he added. According to the Case Tracking Information System of the Central Jakarta District Court, the hearing will be held in the Muhammad Hatta Ali courtroom, presided over by Judge Ni Kadek Susantiani. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) began investigating the alleged corruption in the 2023–2024 Indonesian hajj quota on 9 August 2025. On 9 January 2026, the KPK named Yaqut and his former special staff member, Ishfaf Abidal Aziz, also known as Gus Alex, as suspects. Fuad Hasan Masyhur, the owner of the Maktour hajj organiser, was not named a suspect despite being previously placed on a travel ban. Yaqut was detained at the KPK’s Red and White Building detention centre on 12 March 2026, while Ishfaf was detained five days later. Yaqut’s detention status was briefly changed to house arrest on 19 March 2026 at his family’s request, but he was returned to the KPK detention centre on 24 March 2026. In the case’s development, the KPK also named two new suspects on 30 March 2026: Maktour Operational Director Ismail Adham and former Chairman of the Hajj and Umrah Tour Travel Association of Indonesia, Asrul Aziz Taba. Both were detained on 8 June 2026. On 24 June 2026, the KPK suspended Yaqut’s detention and transferred him to the National Police Hospital after he experienced digestive health problems. The KPK re-detained Yaqut on 9 July 2026. On 14 July 2026, the KPK announced it had transferred the case files of Yaqut and three other suspects to the public prosecutors.