Yaqut Cholil Qoumas's Pretrial Challenge: Sprindik Scrutinised, Audit Questioned

The pretrial challenge brought by former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas against the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) moved into the stage of expert evidence hearings for the applicant’s side, Yaqut’s camp. The hearing, held at the South Jakarta District Court on Thursday 5 March 2026, saw Yaqut’s team present several experts to testify before the single judge. One of the experts, criminal law lecturer Mahrus Ali from Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII) in Yogyakarta, highlighted the KPK’s issuance of the Surat Perintah Penyidikan (Sprindik) in the case. Mahrus drew attention to several Sprindiks issued by the KPK, notably Sprindik No. Sprin.Dik/01/Dik.00/01/01/2026 dated 8 January 2026. ‘On the same date a suspect was designated. That is problematic,’ he said at the South Jakarta District Court on Thursday, 5 March 2026. According to Mahrus, under both the old and the new KUHAP, an investigation is a sequence of actions to search for and gather evidence before a person is named a suspect. ‘The end of the investigation is the designation of a suspect after the investigator has collected at least two pieces of evidence. If a Sprindik is issued on the same day as a suspect is named, then the question is when the process of searching for and collecting the evidence was carried out,’ he said. He reasoned that the existence of the new Sprindik could raise legal problems if the context of its issuance is not clear. He judged Sprindik No. 61A not problematic if it relates only to extensions or additions to the investigators’ personnel. However, he questioned the substance of Sprindik No. 1 issued on 8 January 2026. ‘If Sprindik No. 1 is not an extension of personnel, then it could replace the old Sprindik. It is not possible to have two Sprindiks in the same case for a single investigative process,’ he said. Mahrus also contended that there were errors in the legal basis used for the Sprindik issued by the KPK. He referred to Article 361 letter b of the new KUHAP in Chapter XXII on transitional provisions, which governs when the old KUHAP and the new KUHAP apply.