Siahrul Yasin Limpo

Jakarta –

Public prosecutor at the Corruption Eradication Commission and lawyer for the former Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Siahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) engaged in a heated debate during the trial. The heated debate took place when the bill for the multi-billion Umrah pilgrimage was being discussed at SYL.

This was disclosed in the trial of the case of extortion and satisfaction alleged by the accused SYL, former Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture Kasdi Subagyono, and former Director of Agricultural Equipment and Machinery of the Ministry of Agriculture Muhammad Hatta at the Jakarta Corruption Court on. Monday (6/5/2024).

One of the witnesses presented at the trial was the former coordinator of household products for the Ministry of Agriculture, Arief Sopian. SYL’s lawyer first questioned Arief’s statement regarding the Umrah bill at the previous hearing.

“At the previous hearing, you explained about Umrah, sir, is that true?” asked SYL’s lawyer.

Arief said he did not mention the Umrah bill. He said he only deposited the money with a travel agent.

“I have never performed Umrah, whether it is Umrah or not, I do not know, sir,” answered Arief.

Arief only said that there was a bill for SYL and his work trip (kunker) to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from the travel agency. He admitted that he did not know if SYL and his attackers performed Umrah when he visited Saudi Arabia.

“The important thing is that there’s a bill, right?” asked the chairman of the judging panel, Rianto Adam Pontoh.

“Yes. I gave the money,” replied Arief.

“Bills for Umrah, sir?” SYL’s lawyer said.

“Yes, I do not understand, sir,” replied Arief.

Arief admitted that he did not know if the agent who submitted the bill was an Umrah travel agent. He said he only paid according to the bill given, which was around Rp.

“What is that travel? Hajj and Umrah pilgrims, do you know, brother?” asked the judge.

“I don’t know. The important thing is that I pay to travel,” answered Arief.

Arief also admitted that he did not remember the list of people in the SYL group to Saudi Arabia. He said the list of people who participated was submitted by the prosecutor.

“So who is going, how many people are there so that IDR 1 billion is on the table or not?” asked the judge.

“It is there, Your Majesty, I forgot,” replied Arief.

SYL’s lawyer questioned Arief again about the alleged bill for the Umrah. SYL’s lawyer was shocked as the said bill reached billions of rupiah.

“Your Majesty’s permission, because this is important in our opinion, Your Majesty. According to the evidence, how much does it cost for one person to go on Umrah? As far as the evidence knows?” asked SYL’s lawyer.

“I do not know, sir, because I have never performed Umrah,” replied Arief.

“Yes, because the testimony of the witness in the trial is also different, the witness said earlier how many billions, because in this trial it was also high at Rp. 1.8 billion for Umrah. Yesterday, if I’m not mistaken, I heard someone also Rp. 6 billion, Rp. 5 billion, something like that,” SYL’s lawyer said.

“The money collected was IDR 6 billion, which was collected by me and I put it in,” said Arief.

“That amount is IDR 5 (billion), and that’s all in the BAP, sir,” he continued.

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(mib/haf)