Get Ready! Witnesses In The Corruption Case Of Hajj Quota Immediately Called By The KPK

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) (ANTARA) building

JAKARTA - Allegations of corruption in quotas and organizing Hajj handled by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) will soon enter a new chapter. Acting (Plt) Deputy for Enforcement and Execution of the KPK Asep Guntur Rahayu said the summoning of witnesses would soon be carried out.

"Later we will confirm with the people. Next week we will start summoning or by the end of this week we have started summoning witnesses for this case," Asep told reporters at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, quoted on Tuesday, August 26.

Asep said the summoning of witnesses was carried out after they searched a number of locations. This forced effort first became the focus of investigators to secure evidence.

"What we are afraid of, yes, we are afraid that in handling a case is the loss of evidence," he said.

"So whether it's a note or in the form of electronic evidence or something else, we have to secure it immediately. That's why we conducted a search first," continued Asep, who also serves as Director of KPK Investigations.

After the evidence is deemed sufficient, then the investigators call the witnesses or related parties. "For us to confirm," explained Asep.

The anti-corruption commission has pocketed a number of evidences related to the alleged corruption in the hajj quota being handled. Among them are financial records related to the sale and purchase of additional hajj quotas, cars, and electronic evidence.

Financial records related to the sale and purchase of hajj quotas were obtained after investigators conducted searches at three associations' offices for organizing the Hajj and Umrah as well as the homes of related parties on Tuesday, August 19.

Previously reported, the KPK has issued a general investigation warrant (sprindik) for alleged corruption in the addition of quotas and the implementation of Hajj. This institution reasoned that the issuance was carried out so that they could make forced efforts.

The general Sprindik uses Article 2 Paragraph 1 and/or Article 3 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended by Law Number 20 of 2021 in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code. This means that there are state losses that occur due to this rasuah practice.

State losses in the corruption case of quota and Hajj for the period 2023-2024 are said to have reached more than IDR 1 trillion. This amount is still increasing because it is only the initial calculation of the KPK which continues to coordinate with the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) of the Republic of Indonesia.

This case began with the provision of 20,000 additional Hajj quotas from the Saudi Arabian government for Indonesia to reduce queues for pilgrims.

However, 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, based on the law, the distribution should be 92 percent for regular Hajj and 8 percent for special Hajj.