KPK Denies Delaying Determination Of Corruption Suspect Hajj Quota: Law Enforcement Must Be Based On Evidence

DOK ANTARA

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said that no party has been suspected of corruption in quotas and Hajj cases in 2023-2024 at the Ministry of Religion because the search for evidence is still ongoing.

This was conveyed by the Deputy Chairperson of the KPK, Fitroh Rohcahyanto, when asked about the news of the determination of the suspect in the quota corruption case and the implementation of the hajj pending due to the request of the Palace. He said that strong evidence must be owned by his institution when determining someone as a suspect.

"The determination of the suspect is of course based on the adequacy of evidence," said Fitroh when confirmed by VOI, Saturday, September 20.

"And until now the KPK has not named a suspect in the alleged corruption of the hajj quota," he continued.

Similarly, the Acting Deputy for Enforcement and Execution of the KPK Asep Guntur Rahayu admitted that he did not know there was such information. Including, regarding the news that a KPK leader was asked to come to the Palace to discuss the corruption case of quotas and organizing Hajj.

"We don't know anything like that yet," Asep told reporters at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Thursday night, September 18.

Previously reported, the KPK said that allegations of corruption related to quotas and the implementation of Hajj in 2023-2024 at the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) would enter a new chapter. In the near future, the suspects will be announced because the process is running using a general investigation warrant (sprindik).

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 stems from 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 based on the Decree (SK) of the Minister of Religion signed by Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.

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

Later, the distribution of problems was allegedly due to money from the Hajj and Umrah travel parties as well as the associations that oversee the Ministry of Religion. After getting the allotment, they sold the additional quota to prospective pilgrims.