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View all search resultsLight sentences still mar military justice system: Kontras
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Defendants in a murder case of a bank branch head in Jakarta, Chief Sgt. Frengky Yaru (second left), Second Cpl. Feri Heriyanto (center) and Chief Sgt. Mochamad Nasir, are escorted out of the courtroom after their verdict hearing at the Jakarta Military Court in Jakarta on June 3, 2026. The judges sentenced Nasir to 13 years in prison, Feri to seven years and Frengky to a year after finding them guilty in the murder case. (Antara/Dhemas Reviyanto)
I
ndonesia’s military justice system still reflects a broader pattern of impunity for handing down mild sentences, especially in cases of violence committed by personnel against civilians, according to rights group the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).
The group analyzed 131 verdicts delivered by military courts against Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel charged with the offences of murder, attempted murder and assault from October 2024 to September 2025.
Within that period, military courts across the country tried 13 defendants for murder, five for attempted murder and 113 for assault.
From the analysis, Kontras found the punishments given to defendants ranged from one month and 20 days to six years in prison for assault cases. Meanwhile, personnel standing trial for murder received sentences ranging from a year behind bars to life imprisonment.
Only four defendants in attempted murder and one other murder case were sentenced to death by the military courts, according to Kontras’ finding.
The figures between October 2022 and September 2023 analyzed by Kontras were no better. Of 117 military personnel prosecuted within that period, the lightest sentence was one month and 15 days in prison, while the heaviest was a year and three months.
Read also: Military Tribunal Law under fire for lenient TNI sentences
