Gus Yaqut Denies KPK Allegations, Says Extra 2024 Hajj Quotas Were Agreed with Saudi Arabia
The legal team of former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas insisted the allocation of an extra 20,000 hajj slots in 2024 wasn’t a one-sided call. The 50:50 split between regular and special hajj pilgrims followed an official memorandum of understanding between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, signed on January 8, 2024.
The policy, Mellisa Anggraini explained at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Friday (Aug 21, 2026), was based on safety evaluations and service capacity-especially after the high number of incidents back in 2023. The top authority on hajj operations lies with the Saudi government, so Indonesia can only put forward proposals, while the final call still rests with the Saudis.
Mellisa also pushed back against the KPK prosecutor’s accusations that the quota shift benefited certain parties or harmed regular pilgrims. At the time, regular hajj services were only deemed able to safely handle around 10,000 pilgrims, so the quota split was supposedly done for diplomatic reasons and to help shorten the waiting list.
https://www.harianaceh.co.id/2