Judge Highlights Amateur Methods of TNI BAIS Members in Acid Attack Case Involving Andrie Yunus

JAKARTA — The presiding judge, Colonel Chk Fredy Ferdian, admitted to being puzzled by the methods employed by four TNI BAIS members in throwing acid on KontraS activist Andrie Yunus.

The statement was made during a hearing at the Military Court II-08 Jakarta, which focused on witness examinations, on Wednesday (6/5/2026).

“I’m not an intelligence person, and perhaps you all are the same. It looks so amateurish; it makes me annoyed just seeing it,” Fredy remarked in the courtroom.

Fredy assessed that the actions allegedly carried out by the defendants were far from the standards of professionalism expected from an intelligence agency.

“The way they did it was really poor and messy. Is this how BAIS personnel operate?” Fredy asked the witnesses from TNI BAIS.

“Come on, do it properly. If there’s CCTV, just wear a jacket, a mask, or some kind of cover. How could they do it in the middle of the street without covering their faces or wearing helmets? It turns into a joke,” he continued.

In response, the Commander of the Headquarters Detachment (Dandenma) of TNI BAIS, Colonel Inf Heri Heryadi, who appeared as a witness, explained that the four defendants were not carrying out operational intelligence duties as had been questioned.

Previously, the four TNI personnel were charged with throwing acid on KontraS Deputy Coordinator Andrie Yunus in the Central Jakarta area.

The incident was said to have been triggered by the defendants’ offence at Andrie Yunus’s action of interrupting an event at the Fairmont Jakarta Hotel on 16 March 2025.

The defendants are facing multiple charges, namely Article 469 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code as the primary charge, Article 468 paragraph (1) as subsidiary, and Articles 467 paragraphs (1) and (2) as further subsidiary in conjunction with Article 20 letter c of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code.