When a Nation's Weapons Harm Its Own People...

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — The case of the acid attack on KontraS activist Andrie Yunus by rogue members of the TNI is not merely a criminal matter. This incident also raises broader questions about accountability and civilian control within the military. TNI personnel, mandated by Law No. 34 of 2004 to safeguard the state’s sovereignty, have instead harmed civilians. TNI Headquarters has confirmed that four soldiers from the Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS) were involved in the acid attack on Andrie Yunus. The soldiers involved in the criminal act are Captain NDP, First Lieutenant SL, First Lieutenant BHW, and Sergeant ES. “Four individuals suspected of assault,” said TNI Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Police Major General Yusri Nuryanto during a press conference at TNI Headquarters on Wednesday (18/3/2026). However, the motive behind the perpetrators’ actions remains mysterious to date. TNI Headquarters has not disclosed it. This lack of clarity on the motive underscores the complexity between individual initiatives and the influence of the military’s hierarchical organisational structure. In a highly regulated environment, every step of a soldier is usually inseparable from the institutional culture or signals from superiors. Researcher at the Indonesian Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies (Lesperssi), Beni Sukadis, emphasised that politically nuanced violence rarely stems entirely from individual decisions. “In military practice, superior-subordinate relations operate not only through formal orders but also through signals, expectations, and organisational culture that can encourage or tolerate certain actions, including violence against civilian groups,” said Beni. The key question that remains hanging is whether this action was known or even encouraged by superiors? No public answer to this has emerged yet.