Yusril Visits MUI to Clarify Palestinian Deportation: A Pure Criminal Case, Not a Cleric
REPUBLICA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Coordinating Minister for Legal Affairs, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Services (Menko Kumham Imipas), Prof Yusril Ihza Mahendra, visited the Central Office of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) on Jalan Proklamasi, Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday (22/7/2026).
The visit aimed to provide an official explanation to MUI leaders and Islamic mass organisations regarding the deportation process of a Palestinian national named Abdul Karim Miqdad.
Yusril sought to straighten out various speculations and narratives circulating in society regarding Abdul Karim.
He affirmed that the individual concerned was neither a cleric nor a humanitarian activist as widely rumoured, but an ordinary citizen involved in a legal case.
“I hope that with this explanation the public will understand that the person deported is an ordinary person, not a cleric. This is merely an ordinary individual case, an ordinary legal violation,” Yusril told reporters after the closed-door meeting, as quoted from the MUI Digital website on Wednesday.
Minister Yusril explained that the repatriation or deportation of Abdul Karim Miqdad was carried out by Indonesia’s National Central Bureau (NCB) of Interpol upon an official request from the NCB of Cyprus through the Interpol mechanism headquartered in Paris.
The step was taken after thorough legal review and was confirmed to comply with Interpol’s statutes and constitution.
He emphasised that the handling of this case was purely law enforcement concerning alleged criminal acts committed within Cypriot jurisdiction, so no international rules or legal principles were violated by the Indonesian government.
In response to public concerns that Abdul Karim would be handed over by the Cypriot authorities to Israel, Yusril strongly rejected that narrative.
He revealed that he had coordinated intensively with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and even summoned the Cypriot Ambassador to Indonesia specifically to request an explanation and written guarantees.