Acid Terror in Salemba, the Final Test of Reform
The tragic incident that befell Andrie Yunus, Deputy Coordinator for External Affairs of the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), on Thursday night, 12 March 2026, represents a highly precise, cold-blooded orchestration of violence carrying a stark political message that the space for criticism in this country is under existential threat.
As a vocal activist opposing the discourse of “remilitarisation” through revisions to the TNI Law, Andrie appears to have long been on the radar of certain parties.
Moreover, this attack occurred right after he completed recording a podcast titled “Remilitarism and Judicial Review in Indonesia” at the YLBHI office in Central Jakarta, a legendary symbol of legal resistance in this nation.
With chemical burns covering 24 percent of his body, devouring his face, right eye, chest, and hands, Andrie has now become a living monument to the fragility of protections for human rights defenders at the close of the second decade of the 21st century.
From a political and security perspective, the target of this attack appears highly specific. Andrie Yunus is not merely a field activist but also an intellectual driving force behind the Fact-Finding Commission’s (KPF) report dissecting the August 2025 riots.
That report boldly exposed the involvement of security forces in the deaths of 13 civilians and the disproportionate use of force during massive demonstrations rejecting the increase in DPR allowances and the controversies surrounding the 2026 RAPBN.
The choice of acid, a corrosive substance requiring meticulous preparation to obtain and carry, indicates that this was an operation planned with great care, not an impulsive act by rogue elements on the street.
If drawn in a straight historical line, this case bears strong sociological similarities to the 2017 attack on KPK investigator Novel Baswedan.
Both employed acid as an instrument of terror to halt the steps of individuals uncovering abuses of authority in security institutions.
However, there is a shift in actors that warrants attention. While in Novel’s case the perpetrators came from police elements, in Andrie Yunus’s case, the suspects detained—according to official statements from TNI’s Puspom—originate from the TNI’s Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS).
The involvement of strategic intelligence elements signals that civilian criticism is now being met with deeper and more organised instruments of state violence.
Novel Baswedan sharply described this attack as a barbaric act demonstrating a pattern of repeated impunity in Indonesia.
The most striking anomaly in the latest developments of this case is the emergence of discrepancies in suspect data between the Indonesian National Police and the TNI.
Metro Jaya Police, proudly announcing the success of their scientific crime investigation, released the initials BHC and MAK as identified suspects through analysis of 86 surveillance cameras (CCTV) around the incident location.