Judge: Motive of Revenge by 4 TNI Attackers on Andrie Yunus Deserves Scrutiny

The panel of judges at the Military Court II-08 in Jakarta has questioned the revenge motive behind the actions of four TNI BAIS members who threw acid at KontraS activist Andrie Yunus.

The four TNI members standing trial in this case 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.

During the hearing, the Chief Judge Colonel Chk Fredy Ferdian Isnartanto tested the charges from the Military Prosecutor II-07 Jakarta, which stated that the defendants were annoyed by Andrie’s actions in highlighting militarism issues.

One of the incidents mentioned was Andrie’s interruption of a closed DPR meeting with TNI at the Fairmont Hotel in March 2025.

The judge then highlighted that the defendants had only become members of the Denma unit in November 2025. According to the judge, the motive of annoyance or personal revenge deserves questioning because the meeting interruption at the Fairmont Hotel occurred 7-8 months earlier.

“What is their business with Andrie Yunus? What is their business with the TNI Bill? What is their business with the judicial review submission (JR TNI Law) to the Constitutional Court? What is the correlation with them carrying out (the acid throwing)? They’re just Denma soldiers,” the judge asked.

One of the witnesses presented, Pabandya D 31 Pampers Dit B BAIS TNI, Lieutenant Colonel Chk Alwi Hakim Nasution, only quoted the defendants’ confessions that they felt hurt by Andrie forcing his way into the meeting discussing the TNI Bill.

“Permission. Their confession to us was because they felt hurt seeing Andrie Yunus’s behaviour when he forced his way into the closed meeting (discussion of the TNI Bill at the Fairmont Hotel), so the defendants felt hurt,” 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 knew from TV. How come they suddenly carried out such an action? Did you investigate whether this was indeed an order?” the judge pressed.

“No, Your Honour,” Alwi admitted.

The judge then asked if there was any special operation behind the defendants’ actions against Andrie. Alwi answered no.

“Is it possible it was a special operation?” the judge continued.

“To our knowledge and as far as we delved, there was none. The defendants just felt humiliated and hurt by Andrie Yunus. Nothing else,” Alwi replied.

The judge then sought accountability from the Commander of the Headquarters Detachment (Dandenma) of the TNI Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS), Colonel Inf Heri Haryadi, who was also presented as a witness in today’s hearing.

“Was there any suspicion from them gathering as a group of four?” the judge asked.

“Yes. Permission, before 13 March (2025), they were normal because by chance Defendants II, III, and IV had adjacent rooms. Work rooms. Only Defendant I was separated by a floor but in the same building. They were routine,” Heri stated.

“Was there an order from the Dandenma?” the judge pressed.

“Yes, no, Your Honour,” Heri admitted.

“You have been sworn in,” the judge reminded.

“Yes, there was none,” Heri firmly stated.

“Because it’s impossible for three officers and one non-commissioned officer to act on their own. The Dandenma is responsible. How about that?” the judge said.

“Yes. Permission, we never ordered, including during commander’s hours or assemblies, we never mentioned anything outside. We only mentioned or discussed things inside because our activities are quite packed and in terms of personnel, we are only filled about 52 percent. So .. ,” Heri explained, before being cut off by the judge.

“How many Denma members are there?” the judge asked.

“Should be 163, only 84 are filled,” Heri answered.

In previous hearings, the prosecutor stated that the defendants’ actions were due to feeling annoyed with Andrie who successfully interrupted the agenda of the TNI Law revision discussion meeting held by the DPR at the Fairmont Hotel, South Jakarta, in March 2025.

“With that incident, the defendants considered Brother Andrie Yunus to have humiliated the TNI institution, even trampling on the TNI institution,” the prosecutor said when reading the indictment in the previous hearing.

The defendants are charged with violating Article 469 paragraph 1 subsidiary Article 468 paragraph 1 further subsidiary Article 467 paragraph 1 in conjunction with paragraph 2 in conjunction with Article 20 letter C of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code.