Komnas HAM to Examine 4 Suspects in Acid Attack on Andrie Yunus
The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has scheduled interviews with four TNI BAIS members as suspects in the acid attack on KontraS activist Andrie Yunus for next week.
“Looking ahead, Komnas HAM has three points to convey. First, we will request statements from the four suspects and other relevant parties,” said Komnas HAM Monitoring and Investigation Commissioner Saurlin P Siagian when met at his office in Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon (1/4).
“Then, we will request statements from experts (already scheduled) and conduct further investigations into the evidence items, which we will consolidate within the next two weeks,” he added.
Komnas HAM will further coordinate with TNI Puspom regarding the technical aspects of the examination.
“For requesting statements from the four suspects, we must of course follow procedures. Institutionally, we must first submit a written request letter,” added Coordinator of Komnas HAM’s Human Rights Enforcement Subcommission Pramono Ubaid Tanthowi.
On this day, Komnas HAM completed taking statements from several TNI parties.
Among them were Puspom Commander Major General Yusri Nuryanto, Head of Legal Development Agency Rear Admiral (Junior) Farid Ma’ruf, Deputy Head of Legal Information Centre Colonel Arh Osmar Silalahi, and several mid-level officers.
Broadly speaking, Komnas HAM is delving into the law enforcement process carried out by TNI regarding the criminal act of the acid attack on Andrie. This investigation is necessary because Metro Jaya Police had previously handled the case.
“Today, we, Komnas HAM, focused on several issues. The first is to request information on what actions were taken by TNI parties before 18 March (2026); 18 March was when TNI held a press conference stating they had detained four individuals. So, what had TNI done before that to designate the four as suspects,” explained Pramono.
“We are also investigating several matters related to the investigation steps taken by Puspom after 19 March, after they received the transfer of case files and evidence from Metro Jaya Police; after that, Puspom conducted the investigation. That’s what we’re probing from Puspom until they designated the four suspects,” he continued.
Andrie Yunus was doused with acid about two weeks ago after delivering a podcast at the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) office titled “Remilitarisation & Judicial Review of the TNI Law”.
Police initially announced the initials of two suspects, but at the same time, TNI stated they had detained four individuals from TNI BAIS as the field perpetrators of the acid attack on Andrie. They are NDP, SL, BHW, and ES.
Meanwhile, the Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD), consisting of several civil society organisations, stated that the field perpetrators of the acid attack on Andrie involved at least 16 people. TAUD described this as an intelligence operation.
“We have identified at least 16 field perpetrators. Even, if given further opportunity later, we would be happy to discuss and present the evidence, but then we saw there was a case transfer process,” said Director of Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Fadhil Alfathan during a Hearing Meeting (RDP) with DPR RI Commission III in Jakarta on Tuesday (31/3).