Kontras Activist Attacked with Acid After Podcast Recording at YLBHI Office
Jakarta — Andrie Yunus, Vice Coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), was reportedly attacked with acid by unidentified assailants on the evening of 12 March 2026. The victim sustained serious injuries across much of his body.
Kontras Coordinator Dimas Bagus Arya reported that the incident occurred as Andrie was preparing to return home after recording a podcast at the office of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) on Thursday at approximately 23:00 Western Indonesia Time. At around 23:37 WIB, Andrie was riding his motorcycle on Jalan Salemba I in Central Jakarta.
“Two perpetrators then approached from the opposite direction on Jalan Talang (Talang Bridge), riding a motorcycle, suspected to be a Honda Beat model from 2016 to 2021,” Dimas stated in his account on 13 March 2026.
According to Dimas, the perpetrators were two males operating from a single motorcycle. The first perpetrator was wearing a white and blue combination shirt, dark trousers suspected to be jeans, and a black helmet.
The second perpetrator, riding as a passenger, wore a black face covering resembling a buff that covered half of his face, a dark blue shirt, and blue trousers folded to appear shorter, suspected to be denim.
“One of the perpetrators then threw acid towards the victim, which struck parts of the victim’s body,” Dimas said.
According to Dimas, Andrie immediately screamed in pain and fell from his motorcycle. He was then taken to the nearest hospital in Jakarta and received emergency medical treatment, particularly for his eyes which had been exposed to the liquid. Following examination, Andrie was reported to have sustained burns covering 24 per cent of his body.
“Based on the examination results, no items belonging to the victim were found to be missing or taken, either during the incident or afterwards,” Dimas stated.
Based on information gathered by Kontras, the acid attack was an attempt to silence critical voices in society, particularly human rights defenders. The victim has long been known as a human rights advocate.
“Moreover, this incident demonstrates that the victim came under attack following his work as a human rights defender, as evidenced by his activities prior to the podcast recording at YLBHI. The victim left the Kontras office at approximately 15:30 to attend a meeting at the Celios office to discuss follow-up on an investigation report by the Fact-Finding Commission regarding the August 2025 Action,” he said.