Doctor at acid-attack trial: Andrie Yunus’s eye injury permanent

Military prosecutors called in eye specialist Faraby Martha as an expert in the acid-attack case hearing with four defendants, four serving soldiers of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI). Faraby said the right-eye defect suffered by KontraS activist Andrie Yunus as a result of the acid attack is permanent.

The hearing was held at Military Court II-08, Jakarta, on Wednesday, 20 May 2026. The four defendants are: Second Sergeant Edi Sudarko (Defendant I), First Lieutenant Budhi Hariyanto Widhi (Defendant II), Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetyo (Defendant III), and First Lieutenant Sami Lakka (Defendant IV).

‘Is the eye injury suffered by the victim due to the type of wound the examining expert described, was the eye injury merely from a splash of acid or due to direct exposure?’ asked the prosecutor.

‘I cannot correlate the incident with the severity, but what I know is that the severity is grade 3 out of 4. In other words, the chemical trauma to the eye is grade 3 out of 4. That means serious,’ answered Faraby.

‘The condition of the victim’s eye is grade 3 out of 4?’ asked the prosecutor.

‘Grade 4, the most severe,’ Faraby replied.

‘From the condition of the eye from initial treatment until now, is it temporary or permanent?’ asked the prosecutor.

‘Permanent,’ Faraby replied.

Faraby said the parties cannot yet determine whether Andrie will regain sight. He said treatment is still ongoing for Andrie.

‘Meaning, there is no possibility of recovery to the extent that a plastic surgeon might achieve, say, 80 percent restoration; in terms of the eye, will it recover later? What percentage is likely to return?’ asked the prosecutor.

‘So the current focus of treatment is to preserve the anatomical structure of the eyeball, so the globe remains circular. As to function, we cannot yet answer whether there will still be vision. And it will be evaluated periodically according to the clinical developments of the patient,’ Faraby replied.

Charges

Earlier, the prosecutor charged the four TNI soldiers with pouring acid on KontraS activist Andrie Yunus. The military prosecutor said the defendants carried out the act in anger at Andrie.

The prosecutor said the defendants learned about Andrie on 16 March 2025 when Andrie entered and interrupted a meeting discussing amendments to the Military Law (UU TNI) at the DPR (House of Representatives) in the Fairmont Hotel, South Jakarta. The defendants said Andrie had insulted the TNI institution.

‘With that incident, the defendants considered Mr Andrie Yunus had insulted the TNI institution, even trampling upon the TNI institution,’ the prosecutor said during reading of the indictment.

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

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