Military Prosecutor Questions Senior TNI Defendant in Andrie Yunus Case: Did He Not Stop His Juniors?
One of the defendants in the acid-throwing case against KontraS activist Andrie Yunus was questioned about his role as a senior TNI soldier in preventing the actions of his three juniors towards Andrie. The defendant claimed he did not prohibit the actions of his three colleagues because he was also offended by Andrie’s conduct after interrupting a meeting discussing the TNI Bill.
This was stated by defendant III, Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetyo, during the continuation of the acid-throwing trial against Andrie Yunus, held at the Jakarta Military Court on Wednesday (13/5/2026). Compared to the other three defendants, Captain Nandala is the most senior TNI soldier.
The prosecutor initially asked Nandala about the plan to attack Andrie Yunus. During the trial, it was revealed that defendant I, Sergeant Two Edi Sudarko, initially proposed beating Andrie Yunus. However, this proposal was rejected by defendant II, First Lieutenant Budhi Hariyanto Widhi, who suggested throwing caustic liquid on Andrie instead.
“Defendant III, in this case, is the eldest or holds the highest rank. Did he not feel that the planned action by Defendant I to beat or assault, and then Defendant II said not to beat but just pour, was that action appropriate for a TNI member?” asked the prosecutor.
“Yes, it is not appropriate,” replied Captain Nandala.
The prosecutor then asked what response Captain Nandala, as a senior soldier, gave to the proposals from his two juniors. The prosecutor pressed Nandala on why he did not reprimand his juniors regarding the plan to harm Andrie Yunus.
“Did Defendant III not prevent his juniors, saying ’don’t, don’t do that, there are proper channels if you want to seek revenge against Mr Andrie Yunus, such as reporting or finding legal avenues against Andrie Yunus, he should have stopped it. What next, Defendant III?” asked the prosecutor.
Nandala admitted he did not prohibit his juniors’ plan. He claimed he was also provoked emotionally after seeing a video of Andrie Yunus interrupting the TNI Bill discussion session at the Fairmont Hotel.
He added that the acid-throwing on Andrie Yunus was intended to give a deterrent effect to the KontraS activist.
“After Defendant I showed the video, I felt annoyed, and at that time my emotions peaked. After that, I joined in the corps spirit to carry it out together so that Andrie Yunus would learn his lesson,” explained Nandala.
“Here, Defendant III mentions the purpose of making him learn his lesson. I assume this phrase ‘learn his lesson’ means the purpose of not doing such things again. Is that correct?” asked the prosecutor.
“Yes,” replied Nandala.
For information, the Andrie Yunus case began to be tried in military court on Wednesday (29/4). In this case, there are four suspects who are TNI members.
The military prosecutor has charged the four TNI soldiers with throwing acid on Andrie Yunus. The military prosecutor said the defendants carried out the action because they were annoyed with Andrie.
The prosecutor stated that the defendants learned of Andrie on 16 March 2025 when Andrie entered and interrupted a meeting discussing the revision of the TNI Law held by the DPR at the Fairmont Hotel in South Jakarta. The defendants viewed Andrie’s actions as insulting the TNI institution.
“With that incident, the defendants considered Mr Andrie Yunus to have insulted the TNI institution, even trampling on the TNI institution,” said the prosecutor when reading the indictment.
The prosecutor charged the four soldiers with violating Article 469 paragraph 1 subsidiary Article 468 paragraph 1 further subsidiary Article 467 paragraph 1 in conjunction with paragraph 2 in conjunction with Article 20 letter C of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code.