TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Attorney General's Office (AGO) on Monday, August 24, 2020, denied the allegation raised by the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), which suspects foul play in the fire that engulfed the AGO headquarters on Saturday, August 22, 2020, to get rid of case files and pieces of evidence.

"It's okay to be suspicious, but there must be evidence to support it. Does the person who said it know about this building? This facility does not store case files," said the head of AGO's legal information center Hari Setiyono, in a press conference on Monday, August 24, 2020. "Being suspicious without evidence can turn into slander," Hari added.

Hari explained that case files are not stored in the AGO building that was engulfed in flames but is stored in another facility located far from the burned AGO building. He also said that each and every case files handled by the AGO has been backed up.

The Attorney General's Office building went in flames on Saturday, August 22, 2020. The fire burned through the offices of the attorney general, the deputy attorney, the planning and finance body, the intelligence body, and the staff bureau. Fortunately, no victims were reported in this incident.

ICW previously called for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to partake in the investigation of the cause of the fire after they suspect the fire was intentional to destroy pieces of evidence of cases that are being handled by the Attorney General’s Office.

ANDITA RAHMA