Lawyer Yaqut Soroti Fuad Maktour's Involvement in the Haji Case, but He is Not a Suspect of the KPK

JAKARTA - The legal team of former Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas highlighted the involvement of the owner of PT Makassar Toraja (Maktour), Fuad Hasan Masyhur, in a series of cases of alleged corruption in the haj quota.

Yaqut's lawyer, Dodi Abdul Kadir, said the traces of the desire to utilize additional quotas for the sake of special hajj had actually been seen since 2022.

At that time, said Dodi, Saudi Arabia offered additional quotas to Indonesia. However, Yaqut, who was Minister of Religion, rejected the offer on the grounds of safety and readiness for the organization of the hajj.

"It can clearly be seen from the implementation of the 2022 Hajj, the additional quota was rejected by Gus Yaqut, who then had objections from Pak Fuad at that time," said Dodi on the sidelines of the reading of the indictment of Yaqut, at the Corruption Court (Tipikor) Jakarta, Tuesday, August 11.

According to Dodi, this fact is important because it shows who from the beginning has the desire to take advantage of the additional quota.

"So it is clear what Gus Yaqut's thoughts are, whose will can be read, who wants to take advantage of additional Hajj quotas," he said.

Dodi assessed that Yaqut's attitude at that time showed that there was no intention to use the additional quota for certain interests.

"This shows that there is no mens rea or intention to take advantage of the additional quota from Gus Yaqut," he said.

Dodi then linked the incident to the 2023-2024 Hajj quota case, which now ensnared Yaqut as a defendant.

He assessed that the facts regarding the parties who from the beginning wanted to take advantage of the additional quota should be opened in full in the legal process.

Moreover, in the KPK prosecutor's indictment, Yaqut was said to have received 271,500 US dollars. Dodi questioned the basis of the accusation because according to him it was not explained in detail how the money was received, who handed it over, and where the transaction was carried out.

"The 271,000 receipts of money included in the indictment seem to be just to associate Gus Yaqut with being responsible for the collection of the acceleration money," he said.

Dodi also questioned why the parties involved in the practice of accelerating fees and departing without waiting were not all held accountable.

According to him, if law enforcement wants to be carried out thoroughly, the flow of money from the practice should be traced.

"If this law enforcement is really serious, from the beginning the money laundering article has been applied, so that every party that is said to receive funds can follow the money to where and from where the money comes from," he said.

Meanwhile, another lawyer for Yaqut, Mellisa Anggraini, assessed that many of the explanations in the indictment were actually related to technical practices at the level of the Directorate of Haji and Umrah Implementation and PIHK.

Mellisa questioned why the technical problem was ultimately blamed on Yaqut as Minister of Religion.

"Because Gus Yaqut's actions are only two: the first is to set additional quotas in the Minister of Religion's Decree, which is his authority. The second is to encourage this quota to be absorbed to the maximum," said Mellisa.

According to him, all facts regarding parties who benefit from the additional quota policy must be opened in the trial.

"We want it to be opened as widely as possible so that it can be as bright as possible to reveal who the people are who actually take advantage of policies that are taken entirely for the safety of the congregation," he said.