Today the KPK is ready to face the pretrial hearing of Yaqut Cholil Qoumas

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) stated that it was ready to face the first trial of the pretrial lawsuit filed by former Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (YCQ) at the South Jakarta District Court, Tuesday, February 24.

The lawsuit was filed to test the validity or otherwise of the determination of the status of a suspect in the case of alleged corruption in the allocation of additional 2023-2024 Hajj quotas.

"We will follow the process of the hearing. The KPK through the Legal Bureau will provide the answer," said KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo at the KPK Red and White Building, Kuningan, South Jakarta, Monday, February 23.

Budi emphasized that the KPK respected Yaqut's pre-trial legal steps. According to him, pre-trial is a legitimate legal mechanism to test the investigation procedures carried out by law enforcement officers.

"We assure that in the case of alleged corruption related to the quota for the Indonesian Hajj 2023-2024, all formal and material aspects have been fulfilled by investigators," he said.

He explained that the handling of this case had gone through the stages of investigation until the issuance of the investigation order (sprindik) in August 2025. Furthermore, in January 2026, the KPK named two suspects, including Yaqut.

"Of course, the determination of a person as a suspect is also based on the sufficiency of evidence," concluded Budi.

Based on the South Jakarta District Court's Case Tracking Information System (SIPP), the pretrial lawsuit was registered with case number 19/Pid.Pra/2026/PN JKT.SEL and was filed on Tuesday, February 10, 2026. In the classification of cases, this lawsuit is recorded as a request for "the validity or invalidity of the determination of a suspect".

The South Jakarta District Court scheduled the first trial on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 10.00 WIB in Room 02.

In this case, the KPK has named the former Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and staff in particular, Ishfah Abidal Aziz alias Gus Alex, as suspects on January 8, 2026. Both were charged with Articles 2 and 3 of the Corruption Crime Law regarding alleged state losses.

The alleged corruption is centered on the distribution of additional Hajj quotas that are not in accordance with the provisions of Law Number 8 of 2019 concerning the Implementation of Hajj and Umrah, which regulates the distribution of 92% for regular Hajj and 8% for special Hajj. However, the additional quota for 2024 of 20,000 was actually divided 50%-50% between regular Hajj and special Hajj, and legalized through the Decree of the Minister of Religion Number 130 of 2024.

The KPK suspects collusion between officials of the Ministry of Religion and the haj travel party to pass the distribution of the quota. Investigators also investigated the alleged flow of funds behind the issuance of the SK as well as the potential profits that haj travel agents obtained from the transfer of around 8,400 regular quotas into special haj quotas.

Based on the provisional calculation, the total state losses in this case are estimated to reach more than IDR 1 trillion.