72 Forest Fire Suspects Arrested, Expert: Pursue the Masterminds Too
The naming of 72 suspects in forest and land fire (karhutla) cases is considered insufficient to uncover the burning network if the investigation stops only at perpetrators on the ground. The National Police’s Criminal Investigation Division (Bareskrim Polri) is now being urged to investigate the possibility of parties who ordered, financed, or facilitated the burning.
Trisakti University criminal law expert Abdul Fickar Hadjar said criminal law allows investigators to charge parties who did not directly carry out the burning if they are proven to have played a role in the criminal act. “In criminal law, parties who participate, order the act, provide payment, or facilitate the occurrence of a criminal act can also be named as suspects or defendants as long as their role can be proven,” Fickar told Media Indonesia on Tuesday (25/8).
According to him, the investigation into forest and land fires should not merely focus on who lit the fire. Investigators need to unravel the chain of command, financing, and facilities that enabled the burning to occur. “So anyone behind the scenes who falls into that category can be legally prosecuted,” he stressed.
Fickar also said that electronic communication trails can be an important clue to uncovering the relationship between field perpetrators and parties suspected of being behind the burning. “Likewise, if there is electronic evidence, recordings of the relationship between the perpetrator and the person who ordered it, whether direct or indirect,” he said.
In addition to communication, investigators can also trace financial transactions to determine the possibility of payments to field perpetrators. Fickar said these traces can help test whether the burning was carried out individually or was part of an action planned and financed by certain parties. “All related evidence that illustrates a relationship between the field perpetrator and the person who ordered, paid, or facilitated it,” he said.
Fickar also stated that proof can be built from various types of evidence including witness and expert testimony, documents, orders, payment transactions, and the perpetrator’s confession. “The evidence can be in the form of witness testimony, expert testimony, documentary evidence, orders or payments, and the perpetrator’s confession,” he said.
Fickar also assessed that criminal liability does not automatically stop at individuals. In certain cases, corporations can be held liable if investigators find a legal basis and evidence showing their involvement. “The perpetrator can be an individual or a corporation. All can be prosecuted,” he said.
On that basis, tracing the flow of funds is an important step to uncover the possibility of intellectual actors behind forest and land fires. However, Fickar cautioned that financial transactions do not automatically prove someone’s involvement in the burning. “The relationship between the payment, the funder, the field perpetrator, and the series of criminal events must be proven through valid evidence. Investigators must not only reveal who was at the fire site, but also who may have profited or had an interest behind the burning,” he explained.
Previously, Bareskrim Polri confirmed that the investigation into forest and land fire cases would not stop at confessions or field perpetrators. Investigators will examine evidence, including financial transactions, to uncover parties suspected of funding or having an interest behind the burning.
Director of Certain Crimes at Bareskrim Polri, Brigadier General Mohammad Irhamni, said the suspect’s confession is not the main basis for developing the case. “Confession is not absolutely primary, but it is the evidence that we must seek,” Irhamni said at a press conference in Jakarta on Sunday (23/8).
Police also opened the possibility of coordinating with PPATK to trace the flow of funds. “It does not stop at the field actors, but the interest of the burning activity—what it is for, for whom—we will definitely pursue it to the end,” he stressed.
From 1 January to 21 August 2026, the National Police recorded 89 forest and land fire reports in nine regional police forces. A total of 72 people have been named as suspects, with the total burned land area reaching 1,006.67 hectares. The cases are spread across Riau, West Kalimantan, South Sumatra, Jambi, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Aceh, and North Kalimantan.