Please Handle the AGO Blaze Investigation Properly

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

The rest of the fire is in the Attorney General\'s Office building, Jakarta, Friday (18/9/2020).

The public are waiting for the results of the police investigation into a fire that ravaged the main building of the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) in Jakarta last month. This comes after an initial inspection indicated the fire was caused by an open flame.

A further investigation should be carried out immediately to find those who are responsible for the fire that has raised suspicion and prompted speculation from the public.

It is hardly surprising that the public assumes the fire may be related to major cases currently being handled by the AGO, including the escape of notorious graft convict Djoko Soegiarto Tjandra, which also allegedly involved prosecutor Pinangki Sirna Malasari, who has been named a suspect.

Also read: Disclose Culprits in AGO Blaze Immediately

The public assumptions can be accepted, because, even though most major fires in the past were caused by electrical short circuits, numerous were caused by arson, set intentionally as acts of terror.

At the time, the police forensics investigation found that sources of the fire appeared in several locations of the prison.

These cases include the fire at the Tanjung Gusta Penitentiary in Medan, North Sumatra, in July 2013. At the time, the police forensics investigation found that sources of the fire appeared in several locations of the prison (Kompas, 16 July 2013).

In January 2016, the police forensics team also found indications of intentions in the fire at the Central Kalimantan governor\'s office and the office of the province’s general elections commission in Palangkaraya (Kompas, 2 January 2016).

The Wamena district prosecutor\'s office in Papua’s Jayawijaya regency was burned down in October 2015, damaging seven main rooms of the building. One of the rooms was the place to store evidence to be used in court (Kompas, 10 October 2015). So far, there has been no information regarding the alleged arson in the Wamena fire case.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Members of the Criminal Investigation Unit at the Police Headquarters remove the police stripe sealing the location of the fire at the Attorney General\'s Office complex, Jakarta, Thursday (17/9/2020).

Regarding the fire at the AGO’s main office, which lasted from the evening of 22 Aug. to the early hours of 23 Aug. the National Police has carried out series of investigation activities, such as the scene investigation, checking CCTV footage, collecting charcoal ash and using satellite photos to track the origin of the fire.

Various groups, ranging from members of the House of Representatives (DPR) to a number of observers, have asked the police to work extra hard in the investigation of the case in order to reveal those responsible. A thorough investigation is a must in order to reveal the mystery behind the fire. Who did it, on whose orders, and what were the motives?

The AGO is an important institution, as it is one of the country\'s law enforcement agencies.

If the people behind the alleged arson are found and the motives unveiled, it could be used as a good lesson to prevent similar cases in the future. The AGO is an important institution, as it is one of the country\'s law enforcement agencies.

Therefore, the AGO office, as well as the offices of other state and government agencies, should receive maximum protection from the possibility of a similar fire in the future, whether it is intentional, with terror as a possible motive, or unintentional.