Dito Ariotedjo Reveals Meeting in Saudi Arabia Does Not Discuss Adding Hajj Quota
JAKARTA - Former Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora) Dito Ariotedjo said there was no specific discussion regarding the addition of a quota for Indonesian pilgrims who ended up having problems when accompanying the 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to Saudi Arabia in October 2023.
This was conveyed by Dito after undergoing an examination at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta today, January 23. He finished being questioned at around 16.03 WIB since arriving at 12.49 WIB.
"In general, what is questioned, asked for more details during a working visit to Saudi Arabia," Dito told reporters at the location.
Dito explained that on his 2023 visit, he and President Jokowi came to Saudi Arabia. However, the meeting with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KAS) Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud did not specifically discuss the addition of the Hajj quota.
In addition, the discussion also discussed more about support for Saudi Arabia as the host of the World Cup or World Cup which is an international football event.
"And also after lunch, at that time I remember very well that there was a discussion from the Prime Minister offering Indonesia anything that must be helped," he said.
"At that time I remember there was an investment, there was also at that time if I'm not mistaken IKN, and also one of the main topics must be to Saudi Arabia, it must be what is in the minds of all people, of course, the hajj. That was conveyed by the President," continued the Golkar Party politician.
Furthermore, Dito admitted that he had explained all his statements to investigators. "And hopefully it can help the KPK which is currently completing this case," he said.
He also denied providing information to his father-in-law, Fuad Hasan Masyhur who is the boss of MakTour Travel. The name was included in the list of foreigners who were proposed by the KPK along with the former Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and staff in particular, Ishfah Abidal Aziz alias Gus Alex.
"Just ask, (same, ed) Mr. Fuad as the father of my wife, he asked or not (about the addition of the Hajj quota, ed), yes I, I have conveyed it. Just one question, "said Dito.
As previously reported, the KPK has announced two suspects in the corruption case for determining quotas and organizing the 2023-2024 Hajj period at the Ministry of Religion. They are former Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and staff in particular, Ishfah Abidal Aziz alias Gus Alex.
The determination of the suspect was made later, because the KPK investigated the alleged corruption by using a general investigation order (sprindik) issued on August 7, 2025.
The Sprindik general uses Article 2 Paragraph 1 and/or Article 3 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption as amended by Law Number 20 of 2021 jo article 55 paragraph 1-1 of the Criminal Code. This means that there is state loss that occurs due to this corrupt practice.
The KPK said that the state's losses in the 2023-2024 quota and Hajj management corruption cases were said to have reached more than Rp. 1 trillion. The suspicion began with the provision of 20,000 additional Hajj quotas from the Saudi Arabian government for Indonesia to reduce the queue of pilgrims.
However, recently the distribution turned out to be problematic because it was divided equally, namely 50 percent for regular hajj and 50 percent for special hajj.
In fact, according to the law, the distribution should be 92 percent for regular hajj and 8 percent for special hajj.