Yaqut's lawyer files a counter-appeal, questioning the KPK's construction of the indictment

Lawyer for former Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, Dodi Abdulkadir at the Corruption Court.

JAKARTA - The legal advisory team of former Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas stated that it would file a resistance to the indictment letter of the Public Prosecutor of the Corruption Eradication Commission (JPU KPK) in the case of alleged corruption in the additional 2023-2024 Hajj quota.

The appeal was filed because the legal team considered that there were a number of problems in the legal construction used by the prosecutor to trap Yaqut.

Yaqut's lawyer, Dodi Abdulkadir, questioned the disappearance of Fuad Hasan Masyhur's name from the final part of the indictment, although according to him the name of the owner of PT Makassar Toraja (Maktour) was mentioned several times in the series of cases.

"Why are the mistakes made by other people but the responsibility for his sentence is asked to Gus Yaqut as Minister of Religion," said Dodi after the trial at the Corruption Court (Tipikor) Jakarta, Tuesday, August 11.

Dodi alluded to Fuad's role, which was said to have emerged since the 2020 additional Hajj quota issue. According to him, Fuad was also mentioned in a series of events related to changes in Hajj quota policies.

Therefore, he questioned whether the case actually ignored the parties suspected of being involved in the practice of buying and selling or using the Hajj quota.

"Don't let this case be to cover up the practice of buying and selling Hajj quotas which have been going on," he said.

In addition, the legal team questioned the allegation that Yaqut received money in the amount of 271 thousand US dollars. Dodi assessed that the indictment did not explain the evidence of receipt of the money.

He also questioned the non-use of the bribery or gratification article if the prosecutor had suggested the receipt of money by a state official.

Another issue highlighted is the application of administrative government law. Dodi assessed that Yaqut's actions in his capacity as Minister of Religion to issue policies should also be tested in the administrative government law corridor.

"This means that as Minister of Religion, he has the authority to issue policies, he has the authority to make decisions as the Minister of Religion. And the scope of testing rather than the policy is the scope of administrative law of the government," he said.

Regarding these issues, Dodi ensured that the legal team would file a resistance against the KPK's indictment.

"Therefore, we will file a resistance to question what the legal construction presented in the lawsuit is. Well, next, friends from the advocacy team will explain the indictment letter in more detail," said Dodi.

Meanwhile, another lawyer for Yaqut, Mellisa Anggraini, highlighted the basis for calculating state financial losses in this case which amounted to IDR 622 billion.

According to Mellisa, the losses were built from three components, namely the profit of PIHK from the congregation that was sent out, the profit from the sale of officer quotas, and the profit from the departure of the congregation who were said to be not entitled to leave and the acceleration fee.

Mellisa questioned how the profits received by PIHK from the congregation's money could be categorized as state financial losses.

"Where is the state's money from these three components? The money from the congregation, received by PIHK, is enjoyed by PIHK," he said.

According to him, if there are people from the Ministry of Religion who receive benefits from this practice, the problem should be constructed as an alleged bribe or gratification, not automatically as a loss of state finances.

The legal team also denied the allegation that Yaqut received US$271 thousand. Mellisa said that her party had read all the case files and believed that the allegation would be tested in court.

"2024 there is no flow to Gus Yaqut," he said.

Mellisa hopes that the trial process will be open so that all the construction of the indictment can be tested through proof.

He also questioned other parties mentioned in the indictment related to the discussion of the Panja, BPIH, and quota issues, but according to him, they were never called in the case.

"Don't let this process only be to blame or criminalize someone," said Mellisa.

The continuation of the trial for the alleged corruption of additional 2023-2024 Hajj quotas will be held again next week with the agenda of resistance from Yaqut's legal team.