Jakarta, The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and his former special staffer Ishfah Abidal Aziz as suspects in an alleged corruption case involving the allocation of additional hajj pilgrimage quotas for 2024, the agency said.

“The suspect announcement letters have already been formally delivered. As for further questioning, including the possibility of detention, we will announce it in due course and provide updates,” KPK spokesman Budi Prasetyo said on Friday.

The case centers on the distribution of an extra 20,000 hajj quotas granted to Indonesia by Saudi Arabia in 2024, following diplomatic lobbying by then-President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. The additional quota was intended to reduce Indonesia’s notoriously long waiting list for regular hajj pilgrims, which can exceed 20 years in some regions.

Before the increase, Indonesia’s hajj quota stood at 221,000 pilgrims. With the additional slots, the total rose to 241,000. However, investigators allege that the extra quota was split evenly — 10,000 for regular haj and 10,000 for special haj — rather than prioritizing regular pilgrims.

That policy sparked controversy because it allegedly violated Law No. 8/2019 on Hajj and Umrah Administration, which caps special hajj quotas at a maximum of 8 percent of the national total. With a quota of 241,000 pilgrims, the special hajj allocation should not have exceeded that threshold.

In practice, Indonesia allocated 213,320 slots for regular hajj and 27,680 for special hajj in 2024—figures KPK believes exceeded the legal limit for special hajj. Investigators say the decision deprived at least 8,400 long-waiting regular pilgrims — some of whom had queued for more than 14 years —of the chance to depart for Mecca that year.

KPK estimates preliminary state losses from the alleged scheme at around Rp 1 trillion ($64 million), though the figure could rise as the investigation continues. The agency has seized assets, including properties, luxury vehicles, and cash in foreign currencies, including US dollars, suspected to be linked to the case.

The commission suspects collusion between officials at the Religious Affairs Ministry and hajj travel operators, allegedly formalized through Ministerial Decree No. 130/2024, which authorized the 50:50 split of the additional quota. Investigators are also probing possible illicit financial flows connected to the decree.

Yaqut, through his lawyer, Mellisa Anggraini, said he respects the legal process and will remain cooperative. “Since the beginning, our client has complied transparently with all summons and procedures,” she said, adding that Yaqut would continue to cooperate following his designation as a suspect.

Both Yaqut and Ishfah Abidal Aziz have been charged under Articles 2 and 3 of Indonesia’s Anti-Corruption Law, which cover abuse of authority resulting in state losses. KPK said the investigation remains ongoing and could expand to implicate other parties.

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