Analyst Explains Why the Andrie Yunus Acid Attack Case Must Be Brought to Civilian Court

The case of the acid attack on KontraS activist Andrie Yunus is being urged to be brought to military court because it involves TNI members as perpetrators.

Political analyst Ubedilah Badrun assesses that the mechanism for handling the case must consider the perpetrators’ status as active soldiers, even though their actions fall under general criminal categories.

“The criminal behaviour of TNI members must be brought to general or civilian courts when it involves general criminal offences unrelated to military duties, or through the mechanism of connection,” Ubedilah told Media Indonesia on Thursday (20/3).

He explains that the legal basis for this refers to Article 65 paragraph (2) of Law No. 34 of 2004 on the TNI.

“The main legal basis is Article 65 paragraph (2) of Law No. 34 of 2004 on the TNI, which states that soldiers are subject to general courts in cases of general criminal law violations,” he said.

According to him, the acid attack case against Andrie Yunus cannot be categorised as part of military duties.

“The acid attack, which is strongly suspected to be planned, is not carrying out military duties, but it is a general criminal offence with strong suspicions of an attempted murder against the target,” Ubed emphasised.

Thus, he assesses that bringing the case to military court is not appropriate.

“So it seems based on the arguments above, the TNI is not correct if it continues its internal investigation and brings the perpetrators to military court,” he concluded.