Lawyer Yaqut Soroti Names Missing in the Hajj Quota Case Accusation

Attorney Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, Mellisa Anggraini at the Jakarta Corruption Court.

JAKARTA - The legal team of former Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas highlighted a number of names that were said to be involved in the alleged corruption of additional Hajj quotas for 2023-2024, but were not detailed in the indictment.

Yaqut's lawyer, Mellisa Anggraini, said that her party had read the case documents which contained statements from 432 witnesses and nine experts.

According to him, there are a number of parties who are mentioned in the examination are directly related to the practice of fee collection and quota management at the technical level.

"They have returned, they have been confiscated, then when determining the fee they determine it directly from them for them," said Mellisa on the sidelines of the reading of the indictment letter of Yaqut, at the Corruption Court (Tipikor) Jakarta, Tuesday, August 11.

Mellisa questioned why the problem, which he said occurred at the technical level, then ended up with Yaqut as Minister of Religion.

"So we see from this existing case why he became a minister? Under them, they are conniving, taking advantage, accumulating wealth, then blaming their country's officials," he said.

He also highlighted the name that he thought appeared in the minutes of the examination (BAP), but was not mentioned in the reading of the indictment.

"Is there a disparity here? Some are covered, some are reduced in number, some are deliberately added," said Mellisa.

Mellisa emphasized that her party did not mind that all the facts were opened in the trial. In fact, the legal team asked that the case be separated so that each party could be tested openly.

"We want it to be opened as widely as possible so that it can be as bright as possible to reveal who the people are who actually take advantage of policies that are taken entirely for the safety of the congregation," he said.

One of the parties mentioned by Mellisa, was explicitly mentioned by Yaqut's lawyer, Dodi Abdulkadir. The party in question is the owner of PT Makassar Toraja (Maktour), Fuad Hasan Masyhur.

Dodi said Fuad was very eager to be able to take advantage of the additional Hajj quota. According to him, the traces of Fuad's desire to take advantage of the additional quota for the sake of special Hajj have actually been visible since 2022.

At that time, said Dodi, Saudi Arabia offered additional quotas to Indonesia. However, Yaqut, who was Minister of Religion, rejected the offer on the grounds of safety and readiness for the organization of the hajj.

"It can clearly be seen in the implementation of the 2022 Hajj, the additional quota was rejected by Gus Yaqut, who then had objections from Pak Fuad at that time," said Dodi.