Judge Questions TNI Bais Witness on Possible 'Special Operation' Against Andrie Yunus

The military prosecutor presented Lt Col Chk Alwi Hakim Nasution, Head of Section D 31 of the Special Forces Detachment in the TNI’s Bais, as a witness in the case of the acid attack on KontraS activist Andrie Yunus. The judge delved into whether there was a special operation or orders behind the acid attack.

The trial took place at the Jakarta Military Court on Wednesday (6/5/2026). The four defendants 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.

Initially, Alwi explained the condition of the burns, scorched to black, suffered by Edi and Budhi. Alwi was the personnel who conducted the initial investigation of the two defendants on 17 March.

“We kept asking, and for Defendant I, we were suspicious, so we asked him to open his shirt and saw there was indeed a black burn on the right chest. For Defendant II, we only saw it on the right hand,” said Alwi.

The judge continued to ask what the defendants admitted during the initial investigation. Alwi said the defendants confessed to throwing acid at Andrie because they were annoyed by the interruption of a meeting on the TNI Bill at the Fairmont Hotel in Jakarta, which occurred in 2025.

“What is their business with Andrie Yunus? What is their business with the TNI Bill? What is their business with the judicial review submission to the Constitutional Court? What is the correlation for them to do that? They are just Denma soldiers,” the judge asked.

“Their confession to us was due to being hurt by seeing Andrie Yunus’s actions when he forced his way into the closed meeting, so the defendants felt hurt,” Alwi replied.

The judge then asked if there were any orders that led the defendants to carry out the acid attack. The judge also asked if there was a special operation behind the acid attack on Andrie Yunus.

“That’s not what I mean. They have no connection to AY. They didn’t know him initially, only knew him from TV, just like us. They never knew him, only from TV. How could they suddenly carry out such an action? Did you investigate if this was indeed an order?” the judge asked.

“No, Your Honour,” Alwi replied.

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

“To my knowledge, from our investigation, there was none. The defendants just felt insulted and hurt by Andrie Yunus. Nothing else,” Alwi replied.

The judge continued to ask about the directorates in the TNI’s Bais. The judge gave an example: if this acid attack action was, for instance, due to an ‘order’, which directorate would it fall under.

“I don’t know yet either, I want to ask for our knowledge. Bais has Dir A, B, C, D, or what is it. For example, sorry, if this was an order, by order, command, intelligence operation, let’s say, which director handles that?” the judge asked.

“The operations section has a part that covers that, Directorate H, operations section,” Alwi replied.

“Halong?” the judge interjected.

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

“What is H?” the judge asked again.

“Operations,” Alwi replied.

Alwi said that if this acid attack was an ‘order’, that command would not be Denma’s business. The judge then expressed surprise that the defendants did not know Andrie but carried out the attack.

“Now, they are in Denma, my question. Unless in Directorate H, it might make sense, their direction is there. For example. It’s far-fetched for Denma, who handle bases, to carry out such an action,” said the judge.

“We were actually confused too why the defendants did that,” Alwi replied.

“Because in the indictment yesterday, they gathered first. Before these four, two first, just casual chatting. After that, they gathered. They are three officers and one NCO. There’s a captain too, senior. It doesn’t connect, right. They don’t know AY, they are in Denma, no connection to their duties. Yet they take such a step,” said the judge.

In this hearing, the prosecutor also presented Col Inf Heri Heryadi, Head of Denma Bais TNI, as a witness. The judge delved into whether there was an order from Heri to carry out the acid attack on Andrie.

“Was there an order from the Denma Head?” the judge asked.

“Yes, there was none, Your Honour,” Heri replied.

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

“Yes, there was none,” Heri replied.

Heri also admitted to being angry when he learned the defendants carried out the acid attack. The judge questioned Heri’s responsibility as Denma Head.

“Because it’s impossible for three officers and one NCO to act alone. The Denma Head is responsible. How so?” the judge asked.

“Yes. Permission. We never ordered, including during command hours or assemblies, we never touched on matters outside. We only discuss or talk about internal matters because our activities are quite packed and our personnel are only fulfilled about 52 percent,” said Heri.