Mahfud MD: Pre-trial Ruling in Andrie Yunus Case Must Be Implemented by Police

The former Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD, has emphasised that the pre-trial ruling from the South Jakarta District Court, which orders the Metro Jaya Regional Police to continue the investigation into the acid attack on activist Andrie Yunus, must be implemented. According to Mahfud, the police have no grounds to reject the decision as it is both binding and mandatory.

“The pre-trial ruling is imperative; it must be carried out by the police and is compulsory. Imperative means something that must be executed and cannot be refused,” Mahfud stated on his YouTube channel on Wednesday.

Mahfud noted that the continued investigation by the Metro Jaya Police has the potential to uncover other parties allegedly involved beyond the four defendants currently undergoing proceedings in a military court. He mentioned reports suggesting that between 13 to 16 individuals may be linked to the case, including the possibility of civilian involvement.

Furthermore, Mahfud stated that if the investigation identifies suspects from both civilian and military backgrounds, the case could be brought under the mechanism of a connectivity court (peradilan koneksitas). However, he acknowledged that implementing a connectivity court is challenging, noting a tendency within the TNI (Indonesian National Armed Forces) to reject this path by claiming no civilians are involved.

Additionally, Mahfult highlighted the failure to revise Law Number 31 of 1997 concerning Military Courts. He argued that higher regulations, such as MPR Decree Number VII of 2000 and Law Number 34 of 2004 regarding the TNI, stipulate that military personnel committing general crimes should be tried in civilian courts. He noted that current laws have not yet enabled the transfer of crimes committed by TNI members to civilian courts because the Military Court Law has not been revised.

Mahfud also suspected that the stagnation of the Military Court Law revision is linked to political factors within both the DPR (House of Representatives) and the government. He questioned why the revision of this regulation has not become a priority despite being included in the National Legislative Program (Prolegnas) multiple times, suggesting the matter is highly political.