Nobody should be above the law in a democratic country that upholds equality before law. So, we should welcome any attempt to make everybody accountable for what they do, including the recent declaration of media mogul and former minister Dahlan Iskan as a graft suspect by the Attorney General's Office.

Dahlan was declared a suspect on Friday over accusations in irregular construction of 21 power transformers valued at Rp 1 trillion ($74 million) by state utility firm PLN when he served as president director of the company. We should be relieved also that finally the AGO is pursuing corruption cases involving high-profile figures, such as Dahlan, after for many years just following up on cases by the National Police or the Corruption Eradication Commission.

The AGO, rated in many surveys as one of the nation's most corrupt institutions, is now showing they are functioning by the rule of law. Or are they? If they have a genuine and sincere motive to uphold the law then all of us have reason to cheer. This is what all Indonesians dream: a functional and clean prosecuting body. Together with the police, the AGO is the cornerstone of law enforcement and democracy. Indonesia will not become a true democracy until it has a working and clean police and AGO.

But the AGO's reputation is so bad that we should question any sudden move they make. Considering that the current attorney general is a member of a political party that is part of President Joko Widodo's coalition, this institution automatically is very politicized. We have every reason to doubt that naming Dahlan as a suspect is purely inside the legal domain.

Until the AGO proves otherwise, it is guilty of playing politics.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-ago-needs-prove-politics/