LBH Surprised by TNI's Revelation of 4 Soldiers in Andrie Yunus Case: Law Enforcement Could Be Distorted
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH), M Fadhil Alfathan, has questioned the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI)’s decision to reveal the involvement of four soldiers in the acid attack on Andrie Yunus, Deputy Coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS).
Fadhil, who is also part of Andrie Yunus’s legal team, expressed doubts about the TNI’s internal investigation process. He assessed that this step could disrupt the ongoing law enforcement proceedings.
“The President has already instructed through (Cabinet Secretary) Prasetyo Hadi to thoroughly investigate with the National Police. The DPR has done the same. For us, the TNI’s efforts here amount to a distortion of the law enforcement process,” Fadhil said at the YLBHI office in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday (18/3/2026).
He admitted to being surprised, especially after the TNI’s Head of Information Centre (Kapuspen), Major General Aulia, stated that the internal investigation was only conducted on Tuesday night (17/3/2026).
“It was only last night that they did that. So we are quite shocked, and up to now, we are still questioning what kind of investigation was carried out?” Fadhil said.
Fadhil also highlighted the investigation and inquiry processes already conducted by the Metro Jaya Regional Police. He emphasised that evidence gathering and witness examinations had previously been underway.
“The question is, on what basis were these four individuals arrested? We are worried that these four people might not actually be the real perpetrators,” Fadhil said.
“Or it could even be an attempt to diminish the issue into an individual matter, a spontaneous incident, rather than a murder threat or attempted murder against a human rights defender, in this case Andrie Yunus,” he added.
The TNI Military Police Centre Commander (Danpuspom), Major General Yusri Nuryanto, stated that the four alleged perpetrators had been received and arrested that Wednesday morning.
“This morning I received four individuals suspected of being the perpetrators who carried out the assault on Andri Yunus,” Yusri said during a press conference at TNI Headquarters, Jakarta, on Wednesday.
Currently, the four have been detained at the Jaya Military District Police (Pomdam Jaya) for further processing. However, the TNI has not yet disclosed the roles of each individual or the motive behind the action.
“So we are still delving into the motive,” he stressed.
The acid attack incident on Andrie Yunus occurred on Thursday night (12/3/2026).