Judge Probes Orders from Superiors and Special Operations in Andrie Yunus Case

The panel of judges at the Military Court II-08 in Jakarta grilled witnesses regarding allegations of orders from superiors and special operations targeting witnesses from the TNI in the ongoing trial of the acid attack on KontraS activist Andrie Yunus, on Wednesday (6/5).

The defendants 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.

Initially, the presiding judge of the military panel, Colonel Chk Fredy Ferdian Isnartanto, questioned the defendants’ motives, which were said to stem from annoyance with Andrie’s activism related to militarism issues.

“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 (material examination of the TNI Law) to the Constitutional Court? What correlation do they have in carrying out [the acid attack]? They’re just Denma soldiers,” the judge asked.

Pabandya D 31 Pampers Dit B BAIS TNI, Lieutenant Colonel Chk Alwi Hakim Nasution, presented as a witness, answered based on the defendants’ confessions that the acid attack on Andrie was motivated by resentment.

“Permission. Their confession to us was due to being hurt by Andrie Yunus’s behaviour when he forced his way into a closed meeting [discussion of the TNI Bill by the DPR at the Fairmont Hotel, Jakarta], so the defendants felt resentful,” Alwi replied.

“That’s not what I mean. They have no connection to AY [Andrie Yunus]. They didn’t know him initially, only from TV, just like us. They never knew him, only recognised him from TV. Why suddenly take such action? Did you investigate if there was indeed an order?” the judge countered the answer and emphasised his statement again.

“No, Your Honour,” Alwi asserted.

“Could it be a special operation?” the judge continued.

“To our knowledge and investigation, there isn’t. The defendants just felt humiliated and hurt by Andrie Yunus. Nothing else,” Alwi replied.

The judge then asked the witness, if there really was an order, which directorate section might carry out such an operation.

“I don’t know yet, I want to ask too for our knowledge. BAIS has Dir A, B, C, D, or whatever. For example, sorry, if this was an order, by order, command, intelligence operation, let’s say, which directorate would handle that?” the judge asked.

“The operations section has a department that handles it. That’s Directorate H, the operations section,” Alwi explained.

“Halong?” the judge asked, trying to get a firm answer.

“Yes. It has no connection to Denma,” Alwi said.

“What is H?” the judge asked.

“Operations,” Alwi clarified.

“So, the task forces are in Directorate H?” the judge continued, which Alwi confirmed.

“Now, these are in Denma, my question. Unless in Directorate H, it might make sense, they’re directed there. For example. It’s far-fetched for Denma, who handle base affairs, to take such action,” the judge said.

“We were actually confused too why the defendants did that because it has no connection to their daily routine work,” Alwi stated, admitting he was angry that the perpetrators of the acid attack turned out to be from Denma BAIS.

“Because in the indictment yesterday, they gathered first. Before these four, two first, just casual chat. After that, they gathered. Three officers and one NCO. There’s a captain, senior. It doesn’t add up. They don’t know AY, they’re in Denma, no connection to their main duties, yet they take such steps,” the judge said.

“Yes. It was done on their own initiative, due to possible annoyance as per their confession to us,” Alwi explained the defendants’ confessions again.

The judge then demanded 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 their gathering of four?” the judge asked.

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

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

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

“You’ve been sworn in,” the judge reminded.

“Yes, there wasn’t,” Heri firmly stated.

“It’s impossible for three officers and one NCO to act on their own. Dandenma is responsible. How so?” the judge said.

“Yes. Permission, we never ordered, including during commander’s hours or assemblies, we never touched on external matters. We only discuss or address internal matters because our activities are quite packed and personnel fulfilment is only 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 fulfilled,” Heri answered.

In the acid attack case against KontraS External Coordinator Deputy Andrie Yunus, four TNI soldiers became defendants.

They are Sergeant Two Edi Sudarko, First Lieutenant Budhi Hariyanto Widhi, Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetyo, and First Lieutenant Sami Lakka.

The motive, according to the prosecutor, was that the defendants were annoyed with Andrie who successfully interrupted the agenda of the TNI Law revision 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 trampled 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.