The First Trial of the Hajj Quota Corruption Case of Former Minister of Religion Yaqut Held on Tuesday, August 11

JAKARTA -

KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo said the reading of the indictment would be carried out at the Jakarta Corruption Court. The KPK Public Prosecutor (JPU) has handed over the indictment file since last week.

"We have received information regarding the determination of the trial schedule, that the first trial for the agenda of reading the indictment by the JPU is scheduled for August 11," Budi told reporters quoted by Antara, Tuesday, August 4.

Not only Yaqut, former Special Staff to the Minister of Religion Ishmael Adham; and Chairman of the General Association of Kesthuri who is also Commissioner of PT Raudah Eksati Utama Asrul Azis Taba will also be read his indictment. So, the anti-corruption commission invites the public to monitor the course of the trial.

"This trial is open and this case is certainly also very close to the aspirations of many people, especially prospective pilgrims," he said.

"This is important then as a basis for important corrective efforts to be carried out by related stakeholders, yes, including those related to the implementation of the hajj, which is currently also being transferred to the management of the implementation of the hajj at the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah."

Meanwhile, Mellisa Anggraeni as Yaqut's legal team believes that the element of state financial losses in this case has not been proven. This will be the defense material in the first trial at the Corruption Court (Tipikor) Central Jakarta.

"In fact, at the trial, all the construction of the indictment will be tested openly based on evidence, trial facts, and applicable legal provisions," said Yaqut's lawyer, Mellisa Anggraini, to reporters, Monday, August 3.

Mellisa said that her party respected the transfer of case files and indictments by the Public Prosecutor (JPU) of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to the Corruption Court. This stage is called part of the administrative process in the criminal justice system.

However, Mellisa assessed that there were still a number of legal aspects that needed to be further tested before the panel of judges. One of them, concerning the alleged abuse of authority, the element of state financial losses, and the causal relationship between the policies taken and the losses alleged by the public prosecutor.

"In this case there is also a fundamental issue regarding the character of the additional Hajj quota which is an allocation from the Government of Saudi Arabia, as well as the status of the Hajj pilgrims' funds which are not legally part of the State Budget," he said.

As previously reported, the KPK has named four suspects in the alleged corruption case for determining quotas and organizing the 2023-2024 Hajj pilgrimage at the Ministry of Religion. They are former Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, former Special Staff to the Minister of Religion Ishfah Abidal Azis alias Gus Alex, Director of Operations of Maktour Travel Ismail Adhan, and former General Chairman of the Indonesian Republic of Hajj Umrah Travel Union (Kesthuri) Asrul Azis Taba.

The investigation began with the distribution of 20,000 additional Hajj quotas given by the Government of Saudi Arabia to Indonesia in 2023 and 2024. Based on Law Number 8 of 2019 concerning the Implementation of the Hajj and Umrah and the agreement of the Panja Commission VIII of the DPR RI, the additional quota should be divided with a composition of 92 percent for regular Hajj and 8 percent for special Hajj.

However, the KPK suspects that there has been a policy change through the issuance of a Minister of Religious Affairs Decree that divides the additional quota into 50 percent for regular hajj and 50 percent for special hajj. The policy was then implemented by easing the mechanism for filling the special hajj quota, which no longer completely refers to the national order number.

In the process, the KPK suspects that there has been a collection of fees from a number of Special Haji Organizers (PIHK) in exchange for the acceleration of the departure of pilgrims. The collection is said to be imposed on prospective special pilgrims with a maximum of 5,000 US dollars per pilgrim in 2023 and 2,000 to 2,500 US dollars per pilgrim in 2024.

From the results of the investigation, Ismail Adhan allegedly gave Ishfah Abidal Azis 30 thousand US dollars and 5,000 US dollars and 16 thousand Saudi riyals to the then Director General of Haji and Umrah Implementation of the Ministry of Religion, Abdul Latief. This act is suspected of making Maktour obtain an illegal profit of around IDR 27.8 billion.

Meanwhile, Asrul Azis Taba allegedly gave money amounting to 406 thousand US dollars. From this gift, eight PIHKs belonging to Kesthuri are said to have obtained illegal profits of up to Rp. 40.8 billion.

The KPK also suspects that some of the funds from the fee collection were prepared to condition the Special Committee (Pansus) for the DPR RI Hajj, which was formed in mid-2024. However, the alleged delivery was not realized due to the rejection of the party who would receive it.

As a result of the alleged actions of the suspects, the state is estimated to have suffered losses of up to IDR 622 billion. The KPK charged the suspects with Article 2 paragraph (1) and/or Article 3 of the Corruption Law in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.