The government has been asked to be transparent in investigating the cause of the fire in the main building of the Attorney General\'s Office in order to ward off public speculation.
Police Headquarters Forensic and Laboratory Officers prepare to enter the main building of the Attorney General\'s Office, Jakarta, which caught fire, Sunday (23/8/2020). The officer will examine and investigate the cause of the fire that occurred on Saturday (22/8/2020) night.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS -- The government has been asked to be transparent in investigating the cause of the fire in the main building of the Attorney General\'s Office in order to ward off public speculation. Regarding this hope, the police have confiscated and will investigate CCTV footage or monitoring cameras at a number of points in the building.
The fires that started on Saturday night (22/8/2020) were completely extinguished by Sunday morning (23/8) at 6:15 a.m. The parts of the building that were on fire included the 5th and 6th floors, which are the office of the deputy attorney general for development (Jambin). The fire also engulfed the 3rd and 4th floors, which are the office of the deputy attorney general for intelligence (Jamintel). Below it is the hall and the office of the attorney general and deputy attorney general.
Jakarta Police general criminal investigation director Sr. Comr. Tubagus Ade Hidayat said the location of the fires had been checked and 15 witnesses had been questioned. Police have also secured CCTV footage, which is in the process of being examined. This CCTV footage is expected to reveal the cause of the fire at the AGO building.
Transparent
It is not impossible that there are parties who wanted to remove evidence from the building
House of Representatives deputy speaker Azis Syamsuddin has asked the prosecutor\'s office and the police to immediately investigate the fire at the AGO. This is necessary so that the public does not get confusing information regarding the fires.
Indonesia Corruption Watch researcher Kurnia Ramadhana urged authorities to investigate the causes of fires transparently, whether due to negligence or on purpose. Speculation that the fire was intentional, he said, was reasonable because the AGO was currently handling several major cases, one of which was the alleged bribery related to the Bank Bali graft case convict Djoko Tjandra, which allegedly also implicated prosecutor Pinangki Sirna Malasari.
"It is not impossible that there are parties who wanted to remove evidence from the building," said Kurnia.
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD
We need to avoid speculation first.
Related to this, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD, through an online press conference, said the government would be serious and transparent in investigating fires in the AGO main building. The National Police and the AGO have established a special command post. The post is headed by the head of the Police Criminal Investigation Department and the deputy attorney general for general crimes.
"There\'s no need to speculate, [arguing that] this [fire incident] is to protect this [person], this [incident] is done by that [group]. We need to avoid speculation first. Now, it is impossible to use cilukba [peek-a-boo], hiding something and highlighting something else," he said.
Safe documents
Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin emphasized that maintenance and electrical installations at the AGO buildings were carried out regularly. "So, it should be safe and in good condition," he said.
He reported the incident to President Joko Widodo by telephone Saturday night. The President asked whether documents and evidence of criminal acts were burned. "Everything is safe, from what is prepared in court to the Supreme Court. The data of some of the employees that were burned are back up," said Burhanuddin.
AGO Legal Information Center head Hari Setiyono added that even though the Jamintel area was burned, the intelligence equipment was not burned. "Intelligence equipment and intelligence data are not in the building," said Hari.
