Megawati Puzzled Why Andrie Case Taken to Military Court

Chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, Megawati Soekarnoputri, questioned the reasons behind the trial of the acid attack case against Andrie Yunus being held in a military court instead of a civilian one. Megawati expressed her surprise during a speech at the senate session for the inauguration of emeritus professor Arief Hidayat at Borobudur University, Jakarta, on Saturday, 2 May 2026.

The fifth president admitted to being confused because the Andrie case was brought to a military court despite the Deputy Coordinator of KontraS being a civilian. “Why suddenly it’s taken to a military court. I’m puzzled. Even in my worst days, I was vice president, and to this day I’m still called the fifth president,” Megawati said on Saturday, as monitored from the YouTube channel of Borobudur University TV.

Megawati said she felt sorry for the incident experienced by Andrie. However, she refrained from mentioning Andrie’s name explicitly. “I’m very concerned about the problem of the child who was splashed with acid. Isn’t it funny?” she said.

Megawati herself assessed that there was something odd in the way law enforcement handled the Andrie case, so she posed a question to the inauguration forum for the former Constitutional Court judge.

“This is a question for the smart people, that actually if it’s like that, should the trial be in a military court or a civilian court? Can a victim request through the court which court they want?” she stated.

Megawati then emphasised that in principle, every citizen has equal standing before the law. However, she opined that the current Andrie Yunus case reflects a picture of a legal process that sometimes deviates from ideal provisions. Therefore, she stressed that the law must be implemented wholly in Indonesia and must not be toyed with.

The Jakarta Military Court II-08 held the first hearing of the Andrie Yunus case on Wednesday, 29 April 2026, in East Jakarta with the agenda of reading the indictment. Four defendants, members of the TNI Strategic Intelligence Agency or BAIS TNI, were presented in the trial with identities Sergeant Two Edi Sudarko (ES), First Lieutenant Budhi Hariyanto Widhi (BHW), Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetyo (NDP), and First Lieutenant Sami Lakka (SL).

The military prosecutor stated that the motive for the violence by the four soldiers was revenge against Andrie for participating in disrupting the DPR meeting revising the TNI Law at the Fairmont Jakarta Hotel in 2025.

“That the background of the defendants carrying out the splashing of chemical liquid on Andrie Yunus was to give a deterrent lesson to Andrie Yunus so that he would not badmouth the TNI,” said the Military Prosecutor, Lieutenant Colonel Chk Muhammad Iswadi, when reading the indictment on Wednesday, 29 April 2026.

According to Iswadi, the four defendants had known Andrie since that incident. They harboured resentment because the victim, along with his organisation, also sued the TNI Law to the Constitutional Court and launched criticisms against the military institution.

For that act, Edi, Budhi, Nandala, and Sami are charged with violating Article 469 paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 20 letter c of the Criminal Code. Subsidiarily Article 468 paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 20 letter c of the Criminal Code, and further subsidiarily Article 467 paragraph (1) and paragraph (2) in conjunction with Article 20 letter c of the Criminal Code.

Andrie Yunus rejected the investigation of his case by the TNI Military Police Centre (Puspom). “I object and express a vote of no confidence,” wrote Andrie Yunus in a letter dated Friday, 3 April 2026.

Andrie refused if the attackers were tried through a military court. He emphasised that whoever the perpetrators are, whether civilians or military personnel, they must be tried through the general court.

According to Andrie, the legal process through a military court has the potential not to provide justice for the victim. He assessed that the military court often becomes a space for impunity for soldiers who commit legal violations and human rights abuses.