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View all search resultsRights groups decry light sentences in activist acid attack case
The Jakarta Military Court on Wednesday sentenced four soldiers up to three years in prison for their roles in acid attack targeting anti-militarism activist Andrie Yunus.
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Second Sgt. Edi Sudarko (from left), First Lt. Budhi Hariyanto Widhi Cahyono, Capt. Nandala Dwi Prasetya and First Lt. Sami Lakka stand in the courtroom on June 10, 2026, for their sentences at the Jakarta Military Court in the case of the acid attack on rights activist Andrie Yunus. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
T
he Jakarta Military Court on Wednesday sentenced four soldiers to up to three years in prison for their roles in an acid attack targeting anti-militarism activist Andrie Yunus, and ordered the destruction of evidence despite a recent pretrial ruling ordering that the case be investigated by the police.
The court found four soldiers from the Indonesian Military’s (TNI) Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS) guilty of premeditated assault for the March 12 attack that inflicted serious burns on Andrie’s body and blinded his right eye.
Defendants Second Sgt. Edi Sudarko, First Lt. Budhi Hariyanto Widhi Cahyono, Capt. Nandala Dwi Prasetya and First Lt. Sami Lakka were sentenced to three years, two-and-a-half years, two years and one-and-a-half years in prison, respectively.
The panel of judges held that Edi had incited the other defendants to target Andrie, while Budhi suggested throwing acid at the activist, a member of the rights group the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).
The attack stemmed from the defendants' resentment toward the activist after they watched a video of Andrie interrupting and protesting a closed-door meeting last year of lawmakers deliberating a controversial revision to the TNI Law that expanded military roles in civilian affairs. The attack, the judges said, was intended to “teach him a lesson and deter him from further insulting the TNI”.
The court ordered dismissal from the military service for Edi and Budhi, but not for the two other soldiers, who acted as accessories in the attack.
Edi’s sentence was slightly more severe than the two and a half years demanded by the military prosecutors, who did not seek dismissal for him.
