Mahfud MD Criticizes the Designation of the Suspect Yaqut in the Hajj Quota Case

JAKARTA - Former Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD considers that the Hajj quota cannot be categorized as a state loss in the case of alleged corruption in the additional Hajj quota 2024 which dragged former Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (Gus Yaqut).

Mahfud also criticized the steps of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) which named Yaqut as a suspect in the case. He assessed that there was an error in looking at the legal aspects related to the management of the Hajj quota.

"This is from the beginning I was surprised. The quota for the hajj is not a loss for the state, it is not appropriate to categorize it that way. There is no state money there, right?" said Mahfud in his explanation, Monday, March 9.

The professor of constitutional law emphasized that the Hajj quota is basically an allocation given by the Government of Saudi Arabia to Indonesia, so it is not directly related to the state's financial losses.

Mahfud MD also highlighted the process of determining the suspects against Yaqut, who was considered to have procedural problems.

He alluded to the fact that emerged in the pretrial hearing at the South Jakarta District Court, which revealed that Yaqut was said to have never received a letter of designation as a suspect, but only a notification letter.

"The determination of the suspect is procedural defect. He never received a letter of determination of the suspect, only a notification letter," he said.

Mahfud also assessed that there were issues of authority in the determination process.

"The KPK leadership is not authorized to determine the suspects," he said.

Furthermore, Mahfud explained that in the policy of managing the Hajj quota, a minister has the discretion to make administrative decisions.

According to him, law enforcement officers need to clearly distinguish between government policies and corruption crimes.

"Pure policies should not be prosecuted. If there are rules, follow the rules. If there are none, then discretion is needed," he said.

Previously, the South Jakarta District Court held a pretrial hearing filed by Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.

The trial was filed to challenge the status of a suspect set by the KPK in the alleged corruption case for additional Hajj quotas for the 2023-2024 period.

Through the pretrial, Yaqut asked the court to assess the validity of the process of determining the suspects carried out by the KPK.