KPK Examines Former Minister Of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas Today Regarding Corruption Hajj Quota

Former Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has scheduled an examination of former Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas today, September 1. He will be questioned as a witness in the corruption case of quotas and the implementation of the Hajj in 2023-2024 at the Ministry of Religion.

Information about the summons for Yaqut was conveyed by sources internally. The former minister of the era of the 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), will be questioned but has not confirmed his presence at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta.

Meanwhile, Acting Deputy for Enforcement Asep Guntur Rahayu hopes that Yaqut will fulfill the call even though demonstrations occur everywhere.

"Please pray to attend," said Asep when confirmed by reporters via text message, Monday, September 1.

Later, Yaqut will undergo an examination at around 10.00 WIB. As usual (the time, ed)," said Asep, who also serves as Director of KPK Investigations.

Yaqut is known to have been questioned by the anti-corruption commission during the investigation process. At that time, he admitted that he explained the issue of distributing 20,000 additional hajj quotas from the Saudi Arabian government to break down the queues for Indonesian pilgrims.

Meanwhile, when this case entered the investigation stage, Yaqut was then prevented from leaving the country with two other people. The travel ban is intended so that investigators can easily ask for information.

In addition, Yaqut's house was also searched and a number of evidences were found, including cellphones. This finding will later be extracted and examined by investigators.

As for this case, the KPK has also examined Ishfah Abidal Azis alias Gus Alex as a special staff of Yaqut while serving as Minister of Religion who was also prevented from leaving the country. He was questioned about the distribution of problematic hajj quotas.

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 corrupt 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).

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, recently 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.