August 12, 2025 | 11:07 am
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has prevented former Minister of Religious Affairs, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, from traveling abroad. This prevention is part of the investigation into the alleged corruption of Indonesia's hajj quota in 2024.
"On August 11, 2025, the KPK issued a travel ban," KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo stated on Tuesday, August 12, 2025.
Aside from Yaqut, the KPK has also prevented two other individuals with the initials IAA and FHM from traveling abroad. Budi mentioned that the travel ban for the three individuals is in effect for six months. "The travel ban was imposed by the KPK because their presence in Indonesia is needed for the investigation of alleged corruption crimes," he explained.
Prior to this, the KPK had escalated its investigations from the inquiry stage to the formal investigation stage in the case of the alleged corruption of the hajj quota. This upgrade came after the anti-corruption agency questioned Yaqut on August 7, 2025. "So, we see the need to gather more evidence to determine who will be the suspect later on," Acting Deputy for Enforcement and Execution at the KPK, Asep Guntur Rahayu, stated on August 9, 2025.
The KPK had already questioned Yaqut on Thursday, August 7. Yaqut Cholil Qoumas expressed his gratitude to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) after undergoing questioning as a witness. "Alhamdulillah, I am grateful that I finally have the opportunity to clarify everything, especially related to the distribution of additional quotas in the 2024 hajj process," said Yaqut Cholil while leaving the KPK building in South Jakarta on Thursday, August 7, 2025.
The alleged irregularities in the determination of the 2024 hajj pilgrimage quotas stemmed from the findings of the Special Committee (Pansus) Inquiry into the Hajj. This committee was formed after the House of Representatives' Hajj Supervisory Team found several issues in the implementation of the hajj pilgrimage under the responsibility of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
The establishment of the committee was ratified through a plenary meeting of the House of Representatives on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The committee assessed that the Ministry of Religious Affairs had violated the distribution of the 2024 hajj pilgrimage quotas. Committee member Wisnu Wijaya explained that the violation occurred when the Ministry of Religious Affairs set a quota of 221,000 for regular hajj and added 20,000 additional quotas.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs then evenly distributed the additional quotas, with 10,000 for regular hajj and 10,000 for special hajj. However, according to the decision of the Working Committee on the Costs of Hajj (BPIH), the 2024 hajj quota had been determined in Presidential Decree Number 6 of 2024 for 241,000 people. "The distribution should have been 221,720 for regular hajj and 19,280 for special hajj," Wisnu stated on September 14, 2024.
According to him, the Ministry of Religious Affairs should not have divided the additional quotas into two categories because the quota distribution had already been stipulated in the presidential decree. "The additional 20,000 quotas were already included in the total 241,000 and had been agreed upon by Commission VIII of the House of Representatives and the Ministry of Religious Affairs on November 27, 2023," he said.
The Justice and Prosperity Party politician accused the Ministry of Religious Affairs of dividing the additional quotas into two categories, which could violate the Law on the Organization of Hajj and Umrah, especially Article 64, as it exceeded the 8 percent limit of the total quota determined.
"Thus, the division of the additional quotas into 10,000 each for regular and special hajj through the Minister of Religious Affairs' Decree is legally invalid as it lacks a regulatory basis," he argued.
Furthermore, the Inquiry Committee found that 3,500 hajj quotas were allocated without queuing or waiting. They also found indications of data manipulation in the Integrated Hajj Computerized System (Siskohat), which caused irregularities in the departure schedules of pilgrims. "Some pilgrims had their schedules advanced or postponed, leading to suspicions of transactions outside official procedures," he said.
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