Yaqut's pretrial hearing turns heated as expert questioned on criminal process

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.COM — The atmosphere at the pretrial hearing of former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas at the South Jakarta District Court briefly heated up when the applicant’s legal counsel questioned the opinion of criminal law expert from Universitas Riau, Professor Erdianto.

In the question-and-answer session, the expert repeatedly attempted to answer the questions, but his remarks were frequently cut off by the applicant’s counsel, triggering debate in the courtroom.

Professor Erdianto appeared as an expert witness for the respondent in the hearing held on Friday, 6 March 2026.

However, when he was about to respond, Erdianto felt his words were cut off.

“Well, I want to answer, you cut me off. I am answering based on the old KUHAP. That is the wording of the article earlier, the transitional article of KUHAP. Because this process has taken place before the new KUHAP, the process is subject to the old KUHAP,” he explained.

Tension again arose when another applicant’s counsel posed questions about the principle that the actions of a public official must be subject to the rules in force at the time of the event.

Erdianto briefly asked for an opportunity to complete his answer.

“May I answer? You are asking, right? I want to answer. Let me be given a chance to answer first. I’ve been wanting to answer,” he stated.

“What I have answered already, the questions from earlier have been back-and-forth as well. I have answered, what applies is the process of investigation and prosecution,” he said.

The counsel then questioned the expert’s statement that notification of a suspect status can be done verbally, not only in writing.

In response, Erdianto explained that the phrase “diberitahukan” in the regulation does not explicitly state that it must be written.

“If the understanding is that it is an interpretation because it does not state written or not written. So it becomes interpretation,” he added.