KPK suggests pilgrims in 2024 Hajj season testify for Hajj graft probe

  Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) suggested that pilgrims participating in the 2024 Hajj season testify for the ongoing investigation into alleged corruption in the management of the 2023-2024 Hajj.

"We need statements from the witnesses, as long as they consent," KPK official Asep Guntur Rahayu stated here on Thursday.

He said that testimonies were sought from Hajj pilgrims who receive regular or special Hajj package services despite applying for the "furoda" Hajj scheme, which bypassed the regular national Hajj quota in favor of a direct Hajj invitation from the Saudi authority through the "mujamalah" visa.

As the KPK received reports about "furoda" Hajj pilgrims that were assigned to regular or special Hajj services instead, making them the "victims" in the graft, their testimonies will be helpful for the Hajj corruption probe, Rahayu remarked.

On August 9, the anti-graft body formally launched its probe into alleged corruption in the determination and management of Indonesia's Hajj quota between 2023 and 2024.

The inquiry was carried out after the agency questioned former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas on August 7. The ex-minister himself has been barred from overseas travel by the KPK.

The KPK said preliminary calculations indicated potential state losses exceeding Rp1 trillion (US$61.4 million) in the Hajj management case. The agency is working with the Financial Audit Board (BPK) to verify the figure.

Separately, the House of Representatives' (DPR) special committee on Hajj has also reported irregularities in the 2024 Hajj organization.

The committee said the Ministry of Religious Affairs violated Hajj regulations by splitting an additional 20,000 Hajj quota granted by Saudi authorities equally (50-50) between regular and special Hajj packages in 2024.

Under Article 64 of Law No. 8/2019 on Hajj and Umrah, 92 percent of the quota must be allocated to regular Hajj packages and only 8 percent to special packages.