Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1228 EAT on Wednesday 29 April 2026

A military court in Jakarta has opened the trial of four Indonesian soldiers accused of carrying out an acid attack on an activist who opposed the expanding role of the armed forces in government.

Military prosecutors on Wednesday charged the suspects — Edi Sudarko, Budi Hariyanto Widhi Cahyono, Nandala Dwi Prasetia and Sami Lakka — with premeditated assault, an offence that carries a maximum sentence of 12 years under Indonesian law.

The defendants, represented by military-appointed lawyers, appeared in court dressed in fatigues. Defence counsel told the panel they would not challenge the indictment, allowing proceedings to move forward.

The attack took place on March 12 in Jakarta, when activist Andrie Yunus — deputy coordinator at the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) — was riding a motorbike.

According to prosecutors, two assailants on another motorcycle approached him and threw acid before fleeing the scene.

Andrie Yunus, 27, suffered burns to more than 20% of his face and body and lost sight in one eye, according to military prosecutor Mohammad Iswadi.

Although police initially identified two suspects based on CCTV footage, four individuals were later arrested in connection with the attack.

All of the accused are reported to have been attached to the Indonesian military’s Strategic Intelligence Agency. The agency’s chief has since resigned, though no official reason has been given.

Military prosecutor Mohammad Iswadi told the court the accused were motivated by anger over Andrie Yunus’s activism, but were not acting under official orders.

At the time of the attack, Yunus had just recorded a podcast criticising what he described as the growing militarisation of government under Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia’s president and a former general.

He had also been actively protesting a law passed by Indonesia’s parliament last year that allows active-duty military personnel to be appointed to a broader range of civilian government positions, including roles within the attorney general’s office, the national disaster mitigation agency and the counterterrorism body.

Rights groups have criticised the move as expanding the military’s role in public affairs, warning it could increase the risk of abuses of power and human rights violations.

“The suspects deemed Andrie Yunus to have insulted and disrespected the military as an institution,” military prosecutor Mohammad Iswadi told the court.

Indonesia’s human rights watchdog, Komnas HAM, has separately indicated that at least 14 individuals may have been linked to the attack, raising broader concerns about the scope of the incident.
The group warned the attack “could create fear among civilians to criticise government officials.”

According to Iswadi, the four accused planned the assault at their military lodgings in Jakarta. One of the suspects allegedly obtained a rust-removal chemical from a military workshop and mixed it with battery fluid before the group set out on motorbikes to track down Yunus.

The trial is set to resume on May 6, when prosecutors are expected to present witness testimony.

-Aljazeera

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