Four Defendants Not on Duty at Hotel Meeting on TNI Bill During Andrie Yunus's Interruption

The Military Prosecutor presented Colonel Infantry Heri Heryadi, the Commander of the TNI Military Police Detachment, as a witness in the case of the acid attack on KontraS activist Andrie Yunus. Heri stated that the four defendants in this case were not at the Fairmont Hotel when Andrie interrupted the TNI Bill meeting in March 2025. The trial was held at the Jakarta Military Court on Wednesday (6/5/2026). The four defendants in this matter 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. Heri said that Military Police members are never involved in operational activities outside the base. Heri stated that the four defendants in this case were not on duty during the TNI Bill discussion meeting at the Fairmont Hotel in Jakarta. “Commander, were those four at the Fairmont on duty?” asked the presiding judge Colonel Chk Fredy Ferdian Isnartanto. “Yes, sir, none,” Heri replied. The judge asked this because of the defendants’ admission of annoyance at Andrie’s actions. In the indictment, the defendants are said to have admitted to being annoyed with Andrie for forcing his way in and interrupting the closed DPR-TNI meeting to discuss the TNI Bill at the Fairmont Hotel in South Jakarta in March 2025. Additionally, the judge highlighted that the defendants only became Military Police members in November 2025. The judge deemed the motive of annoyance or personal grudge from the defendants illogical, as the hotel meeting interruption occurred 7-8 months earlier. “What business do they have with Andrie Yunus? What business do they have with the TNI Bill? What business do they have with the judicial review application to the Constitutional Court? What correlation do they have in doing that? They’re just Military Police soldiers,” said the judge. In this hearing, the Prosecutor also presented Lieutenant Colonel Chk Alwi Hakim Nasution, the Deputy Head of D 31 Special Forces Division of the TNI BAIS Directorate, as a witness. Alwi explained the defendants’ admission of resentment that underpinned the acid-throwing action. “Permission. The admission to us was because they were heartbroken seeing Andrie Yunus’s behaviour when he forced his way into the closed meeting, so the defendants felt heartbroken,” said Alwi. “That’s not what I mean. They have no connection to AY (Andrie Yunus). They didn’t know him initially, only knew him from TV, right? Just like us. Never knew him, only from TV. Why suddenly do an action like that? Did you investigate if this was indeed an order?” asked the judge. “No, Your Honour,” Alwi replied. “Is it possible it was a special operation?” asked the judge. “To our knowledge and depth, no. The defendants just felt humiliated and hurt by Andrie Yunus. Nothing else,” Alwi replied. Previously, the prosecutor charged the four TNI soldiers with throwing acid at Andrie Yunus. The military prosecutor said the defendants carried out the action because they were annoyed with Andrie. The prosecutor said the defendants learned about Andrie on 16 March 2025 when Andrie entered and interrupted the revision of the TNI Law discussion held by the DPR at the Fairmont Hotel in South Jakarta. The defendants considered Andrie’s actions to have humiliated the TNI institution. “With that incident, the defendants considered Brother Andrie Yunus to have humiliated the TNI institution, even trampling on the TNI institution,” said the Prosecutor when reading the indictment. Defendant I again expressed annoyance towards Andrie, who was seen as accusing the TNI of carrying out terror and being the mastermind behind the riots at the end of August 2025. The prosecutor said Defendant I wanted to give a lesson to Andrie as a deterrent effect. Then, Defendant II suggested the idea of throwing rust cleaner liquid. In short, the defendants sought information about Andrie Yunus’s activities. They divided tasks when carrying out the acid throwing. The acid throwing then occurred on the night of 12 March 2026.