Victims' Families Visit Constitutional Court, Submit Conclusion Document for Military Judiciary Law Review

Jakarta, VIVA – Families of victims of alleged violence involving TNI members visited the Constitutional Court (MK) on Thursday, 7 May 2026. They submitted a conclusion document in the ongoing material examination trial of the Military Judiciary Law at the MK.

The two petitioners in the case are Lenny Damanik and Eva Meliani Br Pasaribu. Both are family members of victims in cases allegedly related to military violence.

The petitioners’ legal representative, Irfan Saputra, stated that the judicial review was pursued because issues surrounding the military judiciary are not merely about legal jurisdictional boundaries but also touch on the protection of human rights.

“Today, we from the Security Sector Reform Team have submitted the conclusion in the judicial review petition regarding the Military Judiciary Law in case number 260,” said the petitioners’ legal representative, Irfan Saputra, to reporters at the MK building in Central Jakarta.

Irfan assessed that the military justice system has so far left problems for civilian victims.

“The military judiciary issue we are bringing here today is not solely about jurisdictional limitations, but about the protection of human rights and the supremacy of law,” he said.

“Therefore, through this military judiciary issue, many citizens who are victims of injustice in the military judiciary should receive attention,” he added.

Lenny Damanik is known to be the mother of Michael Hitson Sitanggang, a 15-year-old teenager who died due to alleged assault by TNI member Sertu Reza Pahlivi in 2024.

Meanwhile, Eva Meliani Br Pasaribu is the daughter of journalist Rico Sempurna Pasaribu, a journalist from Karo, North Sumatra, who died along with his wife, child, and grandchild in a house fire incident.

The journalist Rico’s death case once drew public attention because it was suspected to be related to his reporting on gambling and the involvement of certain individuals.

Through this material examination lawsuit, the petitioners hope for changes in the military justice system so that civilian victims can obtain legal certainty and a sense of justice.