Gaspol Today: Andrie Yunus Drenched in Caustic Water, Who Gave the Order?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The case of the caustic water attack on KontraS activist (Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence), Andrie Yunus, has sparked major questions about who the intellectual actors are behind this terror, and what interests are at play?

Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, Usman Hamid, stated that the terror against Andrie did not occur just overnight.

It turns out Andrie had been receiving terror and surveillance since he actively voiced opposition to the TNI Bill (now enacted as Law No. 3 of 2025) as it progressed through the Indonesian House of Representatives.

“Andrie, if I’m not mistaken, three or four days earlier went back to his hometown in West Java, just to visit home, and he told his family that he felt he was being followed,” Usman said in the Gaspol! Podcast aired on Kompas.com’s YouTube channel, Wednesday (18/3/2026).

“And clearly, Andrie’s work often intersects with military reform, which may not please some of those in power,” he added.

On the other hand, he did not deny that the nature of this attack indicates a larger motive beyond ordinary violence.

According to him, the caustic water attack is not just a physical assault, but also a form of psychological terror designed to silence and spread fear.

“It’s hard not to say that Andrie’s case is thick with political interests; I think this was deliberately lethal in effect, and that lethal effect is exactly what the perpetrators wanted to spread terror while showing the horror,” he said.

TNI Headquarters has detained four BAIS members. The four soldiers are Captain NDP, Lieutenant SL, Lieutenant BHW, and Sergeant ES.