Reasons Why the Acid Attack Case Against Activist Andrie Yunus Was Referred to TNI Military Police Centre

The acid attack case against Deputy Coordinator of KontraS Andrie Yunus has entered a new phase after being referred to the Indonesian National Armed Forces’ Military Police Centre (Puspom TNI). The reason is that police did not find any involvement from civilians in the case. News of the referral was conveyed by Director of General Criminal Investigation of Metro Jaya Regional Police, Senior Commissioner Iman Imanuddin, during a Hearing Meeting with Commission III of the House of Representatives on Tuesday (31/3). Iman stated that the case file was handed over after his team conducted an investigation and identified two suspected perpetrators of the acid attack, namely BHC and MAK. “After we found facts from that investigation, we can now report to the leadership that the matter has been referred to Puspom TNI,” he said. Iman reasoned that the file was submitted to Puspom TNI because no civilian involvement had been found in the acid attack against Andrie Yunus. “Up to the process of handover, we have not found any civilian involvement up to the handover process,” he added. Andrie Yunus became the victim of an acid attack in the central Jakarta area on Thursday night (12/3). KontraS Coordinator Dimas Bagus Arya stated that the incident occurred after Andrie Yunus attended a podcast event titled “Remilitarism and Judicial Review in Indonesia” at the office of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), around 23:00 WIB. Subsequently, the TNI announced that it had secured four of its members suspected of carrying out the acid attack on Andrie Yunus, namely NDP, SL, BHW, and ES. NDP holds the rank of captain. Meanwhile, SL and BHW hold the rank of first lieutenant (lettu) and ES holds the rank of second sergeant (serda). All four are assigned to the Detachment Headquarters of the Strategic Intelligence Agency (Denma BAIS) TNI, originating from the Navy and Air Force. Most recently, the four suspected perpetrators have been designated as suspects and charged under the assault article.