Reasons Behind TNI's Closure of Investigation into Terror Case Against Andrie Yunus
The Headquarters of the Indonesian National Armed Forces has stated that the investigation into the acid attack on Andrie Yunus has been officially closed. The Head of the TNI Information Centre, Brigadier General Aulia Dwi Nasrullah, said there will be no further pursuit regarding the perpetrators of the acid attack on Andrie Yunus beyond the four suspects already designated.
“We are sticking with the four suspects in accordance with the results of the investigation conducted, namely four individuals,” Aulia said when met at the People’s Representative Council complex in Jakarta on Thursday, 16 April 2026.
The four suspects are initialled NDP, SL, BHW, and ES. NDP holds the rank of captain, SL and BHW are first lieutenants, while ES is a second sergeant. All four suspects are members of the TNI Strategic Intelligence Agency (Bais).
The perpetrators threw acid at Andrie while he was on his way home at the intersection of Salemba 1 Street, Central Jakarta, on 29 April 2026.
The number of attack perpetrators designated as suspects is fewer than the findings of the Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD), Andrie’s legal team. TAUD suspects around 16 field perpetrators involved in the incident.
TAUD representative, Alghiffari Aqsa, stated that this suspicion comes from TAUD’s internal findings which conducted an investigation based on recordings from 37 surveillance cameras around the scene at Salemba I-Talang Street, Central Jakarta.
In response to those findings, Aulia claimed that the TNI Military Police Centre has so far made maximum and professional efforts to investigate the case. Aulia argued that all allegations and speculations will be addressed in court.
“We’ll see then. The trial will be professional. We will also present it openly,” Aulia said.
The TNI Military Police has handed over the case files of the four suspects to the Jakarta II-08 Military Court in Jakarta. The spokesperson for the Jakarta Military Court, Lieutenant Colonel (Navy) Arin Fauzan, said the court received the case files on Thursday morning, 16 April 2026.
Arin said the court will review the case files. If the case files are deemed complete, the court will hold the first trial for the acid attack incident carried out by the four TNI soldiers on 29 April 2026.
“The plan (for the trial) is on Wednesday, 29 April 2026, if the files are declared complete, fulfilling both material and formal requirements,” he said.
Meanwhile, TAUD has asked the Head of the Jakarta 11-08 Military Court to reject the case files of the four suspects. TAUD stated that the process of compiling the case files for the suspects is not transparent and not accountable, thus not fulfilling a sense of justice for the victim.
According to TAUD, the lightning-fast investigation of the case up to the transfer of the case files to the court is an effort by the TNI to protect the intellectual authors behind the terror against Andrie, obscure the facts, and avoid public pressure.
“This transfer further proves an attempt to create impunity for TNI soldiers who committed general criminal acts,” said Muhammad Isnur, Chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, in a press statement on Thursday, 16 April 2026.