Yaqut's Pre-trial Challenge: Expert Says Suspect-Designation Letter Has Procedural and Substantive Defects

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - A criminal law expert from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Oce Madril, stated that the notice of designation as a suspect against former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas was defective both materially and formally. The expert made the remarks while giving testimony as an expert witness for Yaqut in a pretrial hearing challenging the KPK’s designation of him as a suspect in the 2023-2024 special Hajj quota corruption case. The hearing took place at the South Jakarta District Court on Thursday (5 March 2026).

He explained that the defect related to authority in signing the notice. The letter includes a preface (consideration) with the basis of designation of a suspect based on the investigation results of alleged corruption in the administration of the special Hajj quota. However, at the end of the letter, it states that the document was issued in the name of the KPK leadership and signed by the Director of Investigation via the Deputy for Enforcement and Execution.

According to Madril, this mechanism raises questions about authority because the KPK leadership no longer has attributive authority as investigators after the enactment of Law Number 19 of 2019 on the KPK. ‘I think not possible, because the KPK leadership does not have attributive investigative authority. If they do not have authority, they cannot delegate that authority to others,’ Madril said before the panel of judges. ‘If the letter had been signed directly by the investigator, the issue of authority would not be a problem.’ But the administrative model used in the letter is still based on the old pattern before the changes to the KPK Law.

The pretrial hearing was filed by Yaqut Cholil Qoumas to test the legality of his designation as a suspect by the KPK in the 2023-2024 special Hajj quota corruption case. The hearing will continue with the next examination agenda.