Defendant Admits Suggesting Sulphuric Acid Attack on Andrie Yunus, Claims Ignorance of Its Effects

The defendant in the sulphuric acid attack on KontraS activist Andrie Yunus, Lieutenant (Marine) Budhi Hariyanto, was questioned about the reasons for dousing Andrie with the acid. The military prosecutor also pressed whether the defendant knew the effects of sulphuric acid on the body.

Military prosecutor Colonel Chk Muhammad Iswadi initially asked why Budhi suggested to the other defendants to douse Andrie. Budhi claimed the suggestion was made to make it quicker.

“So, why did Defendant 2 suggest dousing? What was the reason?” asked the prosecutor during the trial at the Jakarta Military Court, East Jakarta, on Wednesday (13/5/2026).

“Yes, so that it would be quicker and more practical,” Budhi replied.

The prosecutor then asked whether Budhi had anticipated the effects of the sulphuric acid dousing. Budhi admitted he did not know the effects.

“Did you not anticipate the effects of the dousing if it hit the body?” asked the prosecutor.

“Not at all, sir,” Budhi replied.

“So, from ‘Oh, just douse him’, what was the consideration, Defendant?” asked the prosecutor.

“There was no consideration, sir. It was just spontaneous,” he said.

In this case, the prosecutor charged four defendants with the sulphuric acid dousing of Andrie Yunus. The four defendants are Defendant I Sergeant Two Edi Sudarko, Defendant II First Lieutenant Budhi Hariyanto Widhi, Defendant III Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetyo, and Defendant IV First Lieutenant Sami Lakka.

The military prosecutor stated that the defendants carried out the action because they were annoyed with Andrie. The prosecutor said the defendants learned of Andrie on 16 March 2025 when Andrie entered and interrupted a parliamentary meeting discussing revisions to the TNI Law held by the DPR at the Fairmont Hotel, South Jakarta. The defendants considered Andrie’s actions to have insulted the TNI institution.

“With that incident, the defendants viewed Mr Andrie Yunus as having insulted the TNI institution, even trampling on the TNI institution,” said the prosecutor when reading the indictment.

In short, the defendants sought information about Andrie Yunus’s activities. They divided tasks when carrying out the dousing in March 2026.

The prosecutor charged the four soldiers 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 on the Criminal Code.