Transfer of Andrie Yunus Case to Military Deemed Legally Flawed
Police have transferred the investigation of the acid attack on Andrie Yunus to the Indonesian National Armed Forces Military Police Centre (Puspom TNI). This was announced by the Director of General Criminals at the Metro Jaya Regional Police, Commissioner Big Iman Imanuddin, during a meeting with Commission III of the People’s Representative Council (DPR) on Tuesday, 31 March 2026.
The Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD) expressed disappointment over the transfer of the case, which threatened a civilian’s life, to a military institution. Chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Muhammad Isnur stated that the police should not have halted their investigation after identifying only two field perpetrators.
Initial findings from an independent civil society investigation team suggest at least 16 individuals are suspected of involvement in the acid attack on Andrie Yunus on 12 March.
“(The police) have not at all uncovered who ordered it, the intellectual mastermind, who funded it, and the operation,” Isnur said at the DPR complex after the meeting with Commission III in Jakarta on Tuesday, 31 March 2026.
According to Isnur, the transfer of the Andrie Yunus case to Puspom TNI is mistaken and legally flawed, as there is no regulatory basis for it. Moreover, there is no memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this case transfer.
“The police, if conducting an investigation, should immediately refer it to the prosecutor’s office,” he said.
Police investigators, he added, report to the Prosecutor’s Office by issuing a letter ordering the start of the investigation. He stated that this mechanism is regulated in the new Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP).
“The Prosecutor’s Office will examine it. Then it will be determined whether there is connectivity or not,” Isnur said.
Director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Fadhil Alfathan explained that there is no justification for transferring the Andrie Yunus case from police to the military. Even if investigators at Puspom TNI find criminal acts committed by active soldiers against civilians.
“The new KUHAP positions the police as the primary investigators,” Fadhil said on Tuesday, 31 March 2026.
The transfer of the Andrie Yunus investigation, he said, demonstrates the fragility of the criminal justice system. Ideally, he added, in the investigation of the acid attack on this Deputy Coordinator of KontraS, there should already be a supervising prosecutor.
However, he said there is now a clear coordination chaos when the police instead transfer the investigation to Puspom TNI. “The dominus litis is actually with the Prosecutor’s Office. The prosecutor decides,” Fadhil said.
He expressed disappointment with the response of Commission III of the DPR, which did not strongly oppose the transfer of the Andrie Yunus case. Because, he said, the investigation from police to military implies damage to the criminal justice system in Indonesia.
Muhammad Isnur suspects there are psychological and political obstacles in the police’s uncovering of the Andrie Yunus case. Therefore, he urges the government to immediately form an independent Joint Fact-Finding Team (TGPF) to help fully uncover the case. “In practical experience, such as in uncovering the Munir case, the TGPF could dismantle it all,” Isnur said.