Lawyer: Yaqut Criminalized about the Hajj Quota Policy

The team of lawyers for former Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, Dodi Abdul Kadir (right)/DOK IST

JAKARTA - The legal team of former Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas considers that there are fundamental problems in the case of alleged corruption in the haj quota that ensnared his client. They question the legal basis used to shift Yaqut's administrative policy while serving as Minister of Religion into a criminal corruption case.

Yaqut's lawyer, Dodi Abdul Kadir, even said that this condition has the potential to be a form of criminalization of a policy that actually has its own accountability mechanism in government administrative law.

"Lawmakers have a clear goal in affirming the rules for imposing this sectoral law is so that there is no arbitrariness, so that there is no what is often said today the terminology of criminalization," Dodi said at a press conference in the Grand Wijaya area, Cipete, South Jakarta, Monday, August 10.

According to Dodi, the criminalization in question is when an action that is not essentially a criminal act is then qualified as a criminal act.

In this case, Dodi highlighted Yaqut's decision when serving as Minister of Religion in determining the distribution of additional quota for the 2024 Hajj.

He said the additional quota did not come from Yaqut's initiative, but was obtained after a meeting between President Joko Widodo and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).

"So, the event that suddenly happened and must be dealt with by the Minister of Religion," he said.

Because it is a policy in an unplanned condition, Dodi assessed that Yaqut's accountability should first be seen in the corridor of Law Number 30 of 2014 concerning Government Administration.

He said the rules had set limits, obligations, evaluation mechanisms, and sanctions for government officials in carrying out their authority.

"The area of responsibility for Mr. Yaqut as a minister in making policies, because of the nature of policies, is limited to the accountability regulated in Law 30 of 2014 concerning Government Administration," said Dodi.

Summarize the State Losses that Have Changed

Dodi then highlighted the claim of state losses which he said varied in the process of handling the case.

He said that at first law enforcement officials said there was a state loss of around Rp1 trillion, which later became the basis for bringing the policy of sharing the hajj quota into the criminal realm.

However, after the examination process, the figure is said to have changed to around IDR 622 billion. Dodi said the figure changed again in the indictment to 271,000 US dollars.

"Later, after the examination, even the detention, we asked for clarification including to the Financial Supervisory Agency, it turned out that the state's losses had changed," he said.

Dodi also questioned the basis for the determination of the figure of 271,000 US dollars. According to him, in the indictment there was no material evidence regarding the receipt of funds in the amount of that figure by Yaqut.

"It turns out that in the indictment there is no material evidence regarding the receipt of funds of 271,000," he said.

According to Dodi, the figure is based on assumptions from the testimony of someone who according to him is not consistent with other evidence.

He reminded that the use of assumptions to link the policy of an official with the alleged gratification or bribery could open the way for arbitrariness in law enforcement.

"It is very dangerous if someone, just because of assumptions or shadows, then framing has committed a crime of corruption," said Dodi.

BPK Audit Did Not Find Losses

Dodi also brought the results of the audit of the Financial Audit Agency (BPK) as part of the legal team's argumentation.

He said that the BPK's compliance audit and performance audit did not find violations that caused financial losses to the state. On the contrary, according to him, the audit results actually showed savings of around Rp600 billion.

"If you look at the results of the audit of the Financial Audit Agency, compliance audit and performance audit, there is no prediction, no finding of violations that can harm state finances. In fact, the results have saved state finances by Rp. 600 billion," said Dodi.

On that basis, he questioned the basis used to conclude that there was a state loss which was then linked to the alleged receipt of money or gratification.

"If there is no state loss, no reduction in state assets, then whose money will be returned?" he said.

Dodi assessed that the issue was a fundamental question that would be brought up by the legal team in the first trial of the Yaqut case at the Corruption Court (Tipikor) in Central Jakarta.

According to him, the case is not only about the fate of Yaqut as a defendant, but also touches on legal certainty for state organizers when taking a policy.

"If the law can then be used to hold someone hostage, to be manipulated for certain purposes, then this will be an alarm," said Dodi.

He assessed that legal certainty would be difficult to build if the policies of state officials who already had an administrative accountability mechanism could easily be drawn into the criminal realm.

"This will be an alarm for the achievement of Indonesia's goal as a golden country because legal certainty is something that is difficult to create or to be a handle for state organizers," he said.