Civil Coalition Rallies Petition for Justice for Andrie Yunus
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — A constitutional law expert from Andalas University (Unand), Feri Amsari, has positioned the acid attack on activist Andrie Yunus as a threat to the long-established foundations of democracy.
He also criticised the minimal empathetic response from the head of state to this incident, including the absence of a public statement showing concern or commitment to resolving the case.
Feri Amsari assessed that there is damage in the mentality of state administration, where power operates without sensitivity to humanitarian and democratic values. He emphasised that when the military commits violence against civilians, the legal consequences must be clear: they must be processed through general courts as part of the principles of a democratic rule-of-law state.
“Justice for the Andrie case is an absolute matter and therefore the military must submit to general courts, not military courts, when involved in criminal acts of a military nature,” in a press release on Thursday (2/4/2026).
A civil society coalition held an online press conference via the Zoom platform and also broadcast live on the Imparsial YouTube channel. This event was part of a joint petition drive titled “Justice for Andrie Yunus, the Military Must Submit to General Courts”.
This petition is a form of solidarity and a demand for justice regarding the acid attack on activist Andrie Yunus, which is seen as a serious form of violence against a human rights defender. To date, the petition has been signed by at least 125 individuals from various backgrounds, including academics, activists, and other community members, as well as 156 civil society organisations, including student organisations and non-governmental institutions.
Meanwhile, an academic from the Faculty of Law at Brawijaya University, Al Araf, emphasised that the violence in the Andrie Yunus case is a brutal crime that insults humanitarian values, including elements of terror against civil society.
Al Araf even assessed that this pattern of violence could be categorised as state terrorism. He stressed that without the establishment of a Joint Fact-Finding Team (TGPF) by the President, there is serious doubt that this case will be resolved fairly and thoroughly.
This, he continued, considering the nature of the crime which is suspected to be planned and systematic, encourages Commission I of the DPR RI to actively conduct oversight, including summoning the Minister of Defence to demand political accountability.
According to him, if the President does not firmly state that this case must be resolved through general courts, it can be interpreted as a form of tolerance for resolution in military courts, which has the potential to strengthen impunity practices. According to him, justice for the Andrie case is an absolute matter and therefore the military must submit to general courts, not military courts, when involved in criminal acts of a military nature.