Civil Society Coalition Claims Military Justice System Fails to Guarantee Public Justice
The Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform believes that the military justice system has failed to guarantee a sense of justice for the Indonesian people. This is evidenced by the recent demands made by military prosecutors, who sought only 2.5 years in prison for four TNI soldiers involved in the acid attack on Andrie Yunus, and a light 10-month sentence for Sergeant Riza Pahlivi (a Babinsa) regarding the murder of a child in Medan.
“Both cases prove that the judicial process against the perpetrators is highly unjust for the victims and reinforces the practice of impunity in Indonesia,” said Usman Hamid, Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, in a written statement on Friday, 5 June 2026.
Regarding these cases, the Coalition views the reform of the military justice system as an urgent and pressing necessity, as the current system fails to provide justice for victims. “The sentencing of the attackers in the Andrie Yunus case demonstrates the chaos within the military justice system, which fails to provide justice to victims. If the military court is allowed to persist in this manner, it will ultimately damage Indonesia’s criminal justice system itself,” he added.
This injustice is further reflected in the case in North Sumatra, where Sergeant Riza Pahlivi was sentenced to only 10 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of Rp12.7 million. This decision was upheld by the I Medan Military High Court and did not result in the perpetrator’s dismissal from the TNI.
The Coalition stated that the cases of Andrie Yunus and the junior high school student in Medan are merely examples of a series of incidents demonstrating the dysfunction of the current military justice system, which they argue cannot be trusted as a legitimate law enforcement process.
“The military court serves as a means to perpetuate impunity for criminal cases committed by the TNI. The Andrie Yunus and Medan student cases extend the era of impunity within the military justice system,” said Hamid.
Based on these grounds, the Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform is urging an immediate revision of Law No. 31 of 1997 concerning Military Justice to realise justice for the public. The Coalition also called upon the Constitutional Court of Indonesia to grant the judicial review of Article 74 of the TNI Law, which acts as an obstacle to the implementation of Article 65 paragraph (2) of the TNI Law, as well as the judicial review of Law Number 31 of 1997 concerning Military Justice.