Yaqut Placed Under House Arrest, ICW Warns of Potential Evidence Tampering and Witness Influence

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has warned of the potential for evidence destruction and witness conditioning following the shift in status of former Minister of Religious Affairs (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas to house arrest in the alleged corruption case concerning the 2023-2024 Hajj quota. “The suspect has the potential to destroy and eliminate evidence, or influence witnesses while under house arrest,” stated the Head of the Legal and Investigation Division of ICW, Wana Alamsyah, when contacted by Kompas.com on Monday (23/3/2026). Wana emphasised that the KPK must explain the reasons for transferring Yaqut from prison detention to house arrest. In his view, this step constitutes special treatment from the KPK towards Yaqut. Furthermore, this detention transfer is seen as capable of setting a bad precedent for case handling and even efforts to eradicate corruption in Indonesia. For this reason, ICW is urging the KPK Supervisory Board (Dewas) to examine the leadership of the anti-corruption agency regarding this detention status change. “The KPK Supervisory Board must conduct an examination of the KPK leadership related to this case. Because it is reasonable to suspect that the KPK leadership knew and approved the transfer of YCQ from prison to house arrest,” Wana added. It was reported that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has shifted the detention status of former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas from prison detention to house arrest. “The investigators have carried out a change in the type of detention for the suspect Mr. YCQ, from detention at the KPK Prison to house arrest, since Thursday night (19/3/2026),” stated KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo in his statement on Saturday (21/3/2026). Budi said that this detention transfer was carried out upon a request from the family submitted on Tuesday (17/3/2026). “Following that request, it was then reviewed and approved with considerations in accordance with Article 108 paragraphs (1) and (11) of Law Number 20 of 2025 on the Criminal Procedure Code,” Budi continued. Budi stated that this detention transfer is only for a temporary period. Yaqut only spent approximately 7 days, or one week, in prison. Yaqut was officially detained by the KPK since Thursday night (12/3/2026). At that time, Yaqut had just completed further examination as a suspect after his pre-trial was rejected by a single judge at the South Jakarta District Court. In this case, Yaqut is alleged to have carried out several conditioning efforts to regulate the 2023-2024 Hajj quota. Starting from changing regulations to technical implementation. Yaqut first relaxed the special Hajj quota rules by instructing the Director General of Hajj and Umrah Organising (PHU), Hilman Latief.