Four Soldiers Sentenced to 1.5 to 3 Years for Acid Attack on Activist Andrie Yunus
Four soldiers accused of carrying out an acid attack on KontraS activist Andrie Yunus have been sentenced to prison. The judge declared the four military defendants guilty of the acid attack on Andrie.
The four defendants are Sergeant Two Edi Sudarko, First Lieutenant Budhi Hariyanto Widhi, Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetyo, and First Lieutenant Sami Lakka. The verdict was read by a panel of judges chaired by Colonel Chk Fredy Ferdian Isnartanto at Military Court II-08 in Jakarta on Thursday.
“Legitimately and convincingly proven guilty of committing a criminal act as charged in the more subsidiary indictment,” the judge stated.
The prison sentences for each defendant are as follows:
Sergeant Two Edi Sudarko: 3 years in prison
First Lieutenant Budhi Hariyanto Widhi: 2.5 years in prison
Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetyo: 2 years in prison
First Lieutenant Sami Lakka: 1.5 years in prison.
The judge declared the defendants guilty of violating Article 467 paragraph 1 in conjunction with paragraph 2 in conjunction with Article 20 letter c of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code. The judge stated that defendant I, Edi, had provoked the other defendants.
The judge mentioned that defendant II, Budhi, was the one who had the idea to douse Andrie with acid. Budhi was also declared the person who prepared the acid mixture.
The judge noted that defendant Nandala was an officer who should have been able to prevent the incident but instead participated in planning the act. The judge stated that Nandala and Sami also tracked down Andrie Yunus’s whereabouts.
The judge said the actions of the defendants resulted in Andrie Yunus losing his ability to read. The judge stated that the demand of 2.5 years in prison was not commensurate with the deeds of defendant I, but was appropriate for defendant II. The judge considered the 2.5-year prison demand for defendants III and IV to be too severe.
The judge also imposed an additional punishment of dismissal from military service for defendants Edi and Budhi. The judge had his own considerations for the dismissal, even though it was not part of the prosecutor’s demands.
“Defendants I and II are no longer fit to be retained in TNI service,” the judge read from the considerations for the additional punishment of dismissal from the TNI.
The judge stated that the aggravating factors included the defendants, as TNI soldiers, betraying their duty by carrying out the acid attack on Andrie Yunus, the defendants’ actions damaging the image of the TNI, the acid attack being carried out deliberately, the actions demonstrating arrogance, the defendants’ actions leaving trauma and suffering, and the defendants’ actions causing Andrie Yunus to suffer permanent eye disability.
The mitigating factors included the defendants admitting their actions, having no prior convictions, defendants I, II, and III having service achievements, and having apologised to the TNI Commander, the Minister of Defence, and the victim.