BAIS Witness Reveals Burnt Face of Defendant in Acid Attack on Andrie Yunus

Commander of the Headquarters Detachment (Dandenma) of the TNI Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS), Colonel Inf Heri Haryadi, stated that one of the defendants in the acid attack case against KontraS activist Andrie Yunus was evasive when questioned about the reason for the burnt injuries on his face and body.

This was conveyed by Heri when presented by the Military Prosecutor II-07 Jakarta as a witness at the Military Court II-08 Jakarta on Wednesday (6/5).

The defendants in this case are Defendant I Sergeant Two Edi Sudarko, Defendant II Lieutenant One Budhi Hariyanto Widhi, Defendant III Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetyo, and Defendant IV Lieutenant One Sami Lakka.

Initially, Heri said that Edi and Budhi did not attend the morning roll call. The two were at the TNI BAIS Mess due to illness. Then, Edi and Budhi received treatment at the TNI BAIS Health Unit.

Heri personally checked the condition of Edi and Budhi and found burnt injuries up to blackening on their faces and hands. However, when confirmed about the cause of the injuries, Edi and Budhi were evasive and claimed to have been splashed with hot water.

“After that, we tried to check their condition, we asked the individuals concerned, we asked why, and when, their answers were somewhat evasive. First, asked why, splashed with hot water. But there was something odd there, both of them were splashed with hot water,” said Heri.

Heri explained that Edi and Budhi initially did not admit that the injuries were caused by acid splashes when dousing the victim Andrie Yunus.

“Then, I asked more deeply, they just said ‘yes, wrong, yes wrong’. Finally, that’s it, I left it. I ordered Captain Suyanto to continue the treatment, we returned to the room,” he added.

Based on that, Heri requested a deeper investigation into Edi and Budhi.

“After in the room, we contacted Director D to request that the individuals be investigated further. We asked for assistance to investigate them because we did not have the equipment, our equipment is at Denma, coincidentally our Pam Op section was empty. Then the Provost Deputy was empty, only a Non-Commissioned Officer was available. So, we requested assistance from Directorate D for the investigation of the two of them,” said Heri.

He said that Edi’s entire face at that time was blackened. He estimated 80 percent of it was burnt.

“What did you see on the bodies of Defendant I and II?” asked the judge.

“Visually, Defendant I’s face overall, his face was burnt,” said Heri.

“Right or left face?” the judge asked again.

“If the entire face, permission,” Heri replied.

“What do you mean by burnt?” the judge probed further.

“So, black like that. If we’ve experienced being splashed with hot water, it’s usually blistered, this is charred,” explained Heri.

“The entire face? What percentage? About 80 percent?” the judge followed up.

“Maybe around 80 percent, yes,” Heri answered.

Heri revealed that Edi’s eyes and mouth were also blackened and burnt. Meanwhile, the burnt injury marks up to blackening on Budhi were only on his right hand.

“Mouth black?” asked the judge.

“Yes. Besides the face, also the right hand and chest of Defendant I. For Defendant II, what we saw was only the hand,” explained Heri.

“Defendant II’s hand where?” asked the judge.

“Right hand,” Heri answered.

“For Defendant I’s chest injury, what was it like? Burnt or blistered?” the judge continued.

“Yes, the same, charred,” said Heri.

Besides Heri, four other individuals from within the TNI were presented as witnesses in the trial.

In this case, four TNI soldiers are defendants. They are Sergeant Two Edi Sudarko, Lieutenant One Budhi Hariyanto Widhi, Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetyo, and Lieutenant One Sami Lakka.

The prosecutor charges the four TNI soldiers with carrying out the acid dousing against Andrie Yunus.

The motive, according to the prosecutor, was that the defendants harboured a grudge against Andrie, who successfully interrupted the agenda of the parliamentary meeting discussing the revision of the TNI Law held by the DPR at the Fairmont Hotel, South Jakarta, in March 2025.

“With that incident, the defendants considered Brother Andrie Yunus to have insulted the TNI institution, even trampling on the TNI institution,” said the prosecutor when reading the indictment in the previous trial.

The defendants are charged with violating Article 469 paragraph 1 subsidiary Article 468 paragraph 1 further subsidiary Article 467 paragraph 1 in conjunction with paragraph 2 in conjunction with Article 20 letter C of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code.