Doctor: Andrie Yunus Can Only See Light, Cannot Read Letters

A specialist ophthalmologist, Faraby Martha, explained the damage to the vision of KontraS activist Andrie Yunus, who was a victim of an acid attack. Faraby said Andrie could only differentiate light but could not read letters. She presented this evidence during the testimony of an expert witness brought by the military prosecutor at Military Court II-08 in Jakarta on Wednesday, 20 May 2026.

The four defendants in the case are Defendant I, Sergeant Edi Sudarko; Defendant II, First Lieutenant Budhi Hariyanto Widhi; Defendant III, Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetyo; and Defendant IV, First Lieutenant Sami Lakka.

’Have you performed observations of the patient Andrie Yunus regarding colour discrimination, seeing light, shadows, or eye movements? Have you done this for his eyes, Sir?’ asked the defence counsel for the accused.

‘Yes,’ Faraby replied.

Faraby stated that Andrie cannot read letters because his visual function is severely impaired due to the acid attack. He can only distinguish whether light exists or not, i.e., there is light or there isn’t.

‘Yes. For vision assessment, we typically use the Snellen chart. But in Mr Andrie Yunus’s case, he cannot read even the largest letters because his eyesight is very poor. He can only differentiate light: there is light or not,’ Faraby said.

Faraby said she examined Andrie on 8 May. She explained the acidity level of the fluid in his wounds.

‘The acidity—using forensic methods, sir—what was it or how was it measured?’ asked the defence counsel.

‘The measurement was with a pH strip in the laboratory,’ Faraby replied.

‘What was the value, sir? Could you please explain?’ the defence counsel pressed.

‘The value is pH three, yes, three out of seven. So it is very acidic,’ Faraby answered.

‘So if three is still low, is that right?’ the defence counsel queried.

‘Three is acidic. The lower the number, the stronger the acid,’ Faraby responded.

Charges

Earlier, the prosecutor charged four TNI soldiers with dousing activist Andrie Yunus with acid. The military prosecutor said the defendants carried out the attack due to their ire toward Andrie.

The prosecutor said the defendants learned of Andrie on 16 March 2025 when Andrie entered and interrupted a meeting on revisions to the TNI Law being held by the House of Representatives at the Fairmont Hotel, South Jakarta. The defendants considered Andrie’s actions had insulted the TNI, even trampling on the institution of the TNI, the prosecutor said while reading the indictment.

In short, the defendants gathered information about Andrie Yunus’s activities and divided tasks when carrying out the acid attack.

The prosecutor charged the four soldiers with violating Article 469(1) in conjunction with Article 468(1), as well as Article 467(1) in conjunction with Article 2 in conjunction with Article 20 letter C of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Indonesian Penal Code.