The first hearing in the acid attack case against KontraS Deputy Coordinator Andrie Yunus was held on 29 April 2026 at the Jakarta Military Court II-08. The four defendants Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetya, First Lieutenant Budhi Hariyanto Widhi Cahyono, First Lieutenant Sami Lakka, and Sergeant Second Class Edi Sudarko, all members of the Indonesian Armed Forces’ Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS). faced the reading of their indictment. The military prosecution alleged that the defendants were motivated by a “personal vendetta” against Andrie Yunus, stemming from his interruption of a meeting on the revision of the TNI Act at a Jakarta hotel in March 2025, which they considered an insult to the military institution. The attack took place on 12 March 2026, when the defendants followed Andrie Yunus and doused him with a corrosive chemical substance near Jalan Salemba, Central Jakarta.
The Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD), representing Andrie Yunus, boycotted the hearing and has rejected the trial’s framing entirely. TAUD contends that the attack was a systematic, coordinated intelligence operation involving16 perpetrators. The involvement of more than four perpetrators in the attack was also corroborated by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), which identified 14 suspected on-site operatives and three off-site suspects through CCTV analysis, phone data, and witness testimony. TAUD argues that limiting proceedings to four defendants and attributing the attack to personal grievances represents a deliberate effort to conceal the full scale of the operation and shield those who ordered it.
Concerns over accountability extend to the civilian investigation, which has effectively stalled. TAUD has filed a pre-trial petition at the South Jakarta District Court against the Metro Jaya Police Chief after the police investigation was suspended following the transfer of the case file to the TNI Military Police. Separately, TAUD has noted that civilian perpetrators may also have been involved, raising serious questions about jurisdiction and the adequacy of military courts. Human rights organisations and many legal experts say that the military justice system in Indonesia lacks the independence to deliver impartial justice in cases which potentially involve high-ranking state officials.
The case has drawn significant public concern given its implications for civic freedoms and military accountability in Indonesia. While President Prabowo Subianto has pledged to identify those who ordered and financed the attack, and has indicated consideration of an independent fact-finding team, TAUD has expressed deep scepticism, noting that they have received no investigation updates. The trial is scheduled to resume on 6–7 May 2026 with witness and expert testimony. For human rights observers, the credibility of the process will depend on whether the full chain of command and all perpetrators have undergone trial.
