A Series of Expert Testimony Facts that Strengthen the Pre-Trial Evidence of Yaqut

Former Minister of Religion, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, gives information to reporters at the South Jakarta District Court, Jakarta, Tuesday (24/2/2026). ANTARA/Luthfia Miranda Putri/am.

JAKARTA - A series of facts were revealed in the pretrial application trial process filed by former Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.

This is reflected in the stages of the trial until listening to experts from the applicant and the KPK as the respondent. Both experts from Yaqut's legal team and from the KPK have views that are intertwined with Yaqut's pretrial petition.

The following is a series of facts from expert testimony at Yaqut's pretrial hearing:

State Losses Must Have Existed Before Yaqut Was a Suspect

Regarding the report of state losses in the 2023-2024 Hajj quota case highlighted by criminal law experts from the legal team of Yaqut, one of them is Mahrus Ali. In the trial, Mahrus emphasized that the investigation audit of state financial losses must have been completed before the determination of suspects was carried out.

"One, material delict. Two, material omission delict. The third, delict qualified as a result. These three types of delicts, it is mandatory to prove the causal relationship in the sense that there must be an effect. In the context of this article, there must be an effect in the form of state financial losses calculated by a state institution which states that based on the results of the investigation audit, state financial losses have occurred. And it must already exist before the designation of a person as a suspect, not afterwards," said Mahrus in the pretrial hearing of Yaqut at the South Jakarta District Court, Thursday, March 5.

Meanwhile, from the KPK, the matter of state losses was explained by Erdianto as a criminal law expert. In his statement, Erdianto said Articles 2 and 3 of the Corruption Crime Law (UU Tipikor) could be applied if there were results of audits of the calculation of state financial losses.

The potential losses that arise can be considered as completed criminal acts as in Articles 2 and 3 of the old Tipikor Law. The potential alone is already a perfect criminal act. But then with the decision of the Constitutional Court (MK), it shifted to a material offense. There must first be state losses," he said in a trial, Friday, March 6.

Determination of the Suspect Yaqut is Legally Disabled

The Yaqut party also presented a constitutional law expert in the pretrial hearing, Oce Madril. In which, in the trial Oce assessed the designation of Yaqut as a suspect by the KPK to be legally flawed.

The assessment was delivered by Oce in Yaqut's pretrial hearing held at the South Jakarta District Court (PN) on Thursday, March 5. He emphasized that Yaqut's designation as a suspect was legally flawed because the appointment letter was signed by the head of the KPK.

"This letter (the determination of the suspect Yaqut) is simple. If this letter is signed by the investigator, the matter of authority is over. But because this letter uses a model - this, my assumption is the old model, the old KPK Law, maybe like this. But it seems that if the administration does not change, if this is the case, then the KPK leadership cannot delegate because he does not have the authority. Well, if the model is like this, this is a material defect and a formal defect, yes, letters like that," said Oce.

He said that based on the new KPK Law, the KPK leadership no longer has the authority as an investigator.

"I think no, because earlier, if Article 21 of Law Number 19 of 2019, the new KPK Law, because the leadership no longer has attributive authority as investigators, then it has no authority. So what do you want to distribute like that? So there is nothing to distribute," he said.

Determination of the Allocation of the Hajj Quota by the Ministry of Religion

Meanwhile, the KPK presented a state administrative legal expert, namely Emanuel Sujatmoko. In the hearing, Emanuel said that Yaqut as the Minister of Religion had the authority to determine the allocation of the Hajj quota.

"It means this. If it is in the law, it will be added to the quota for Hajj, for example, yesterday it was 100, now it became 125, for example. Then this is regulated in the minister's regulation. Then the minister's regulation is interpreted as a regulation because it is ordered by a higher regulation if we refer to Article 8 of Law 12 (2011)," said Emanuel in the pretrial hearing of Yaqut at the South Jakarta District Court, Friday, March 6.

"Yes, I said it was the minister's authority to regulate. That's it," he added.

Sprindik Determination of Suspect Yaqut Defective Procedure

Mahrus Ali also highlighted the issue of the investigation order (sprindik) issued by the KPK to charge Yaqut. He assessed that the KPK's issued sprindik was flawed in procedure.

"If it is then mentioned that there are two different sprindik years, it becomes unclear. This means that there is actually a procedural defect," said Mahrus when he was an expert witness in the pretrial hearing of Yaqut at the South Jakarta District Court, Thursday, March 5.

Mahrus explained that the time of issuance of the sprindik was important because it was used to determine whether to use the old or the new KUHAP. He said, if the sprindik that became the basis for the Yaqut investigation was issued after January 2, 2026, then the handling of the case would use the new KUHAP.

"It is clear (Article) 361 letter A states, if the investigation process has been carried out, if the investigation process is underway, use the old KUHAP. What does it mean? He does not need to use the new sprindik, he continued.

New State Financial Report Completed One Month After the Determination of the Suspect

Expert from the Financial Audit Agency (BPK) Najmatuzzahrah revealed that the report on state losses in the Hajj quota case that ensnared the former Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas was only completed at the end of February 2026.

This was conveyed by Najmatuzzahrah in Yaqut's pretrial hearing at the South Jakarta District Court, Friday, March 6. Najmatuzzahrah was present as an expert from the KPK.

"Show it, show it again, the date, the LHP (Report of the Results of the Inspection) is on the 20th, it was submitted on February 24," he said in court.

The report on state losses was completed just over a month after Yaqut was named a suspect by the KPK. Yaqut himself was named a suspect on January 8, 2026.

KPK Must Provide Letter of Determination of Suspects to Yaqut

Oce Madril also emphasized that the KPK must submit a letter of determination of a suspect to the party suspected. He explained that the obligation to submit a letter of determination of a suspect is regulated in Article 90 of the new KUHAP.

"Yes, I think there is no problem with 'being informed' or 'being conveyed', it means the same thing. The point is, the owner of the document conveys it to the prosecutor, the point is like that," said Oce in the pre-trial hearing of Yaqut at the South Jakarta District Court, Thursday, March 5.

"For what? So that people know. Don't keep the documents. Tell people, he has legal implications, right. It is reported or conveyed. Why is that? I have explained," he added.

There is No Jurisprudence that States Hajj Quota

Expert from the BPK Najmatuzzahrah admitted that there was no jurisprudence stating that the Hajj quota was within the scope of state finances.

"If for specific Hajj quotas, maybe there is no (jurisprudence). But if the quota, the oil quota, for example, the oil import quota, vegetable oil, meat quota, meat imports, it can also be if you want to be jurisprudenced there," he said in a pre-trial hearing at the South Jakarta District Court, Friday, March 6.