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View all search resultsMilitary court jails four officers involved in acid attack on rights activist
The court found the attack was not influenced by any "chain of command."
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Col. Fredy Ferdian Isnartanto, who leads the panel of judges in the trial over the acid attack on human rights activist Andrie Yunus, reads the verdicts for the military personnel Sami Lakka, Nandala Dwi Prasetya, Budhi Hariyanto Widhi Cahyono, and Edi Sudarko--the defendants in the case--at the military court in Jakarta, June 10, 2026. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
T
he Jakarta Military Court on Wednesday sentenced four military officers to jail terms of up to three years for their involvement in an acid attack on an activist known for campaigning against the growing role of the military.
Presiding judge Col. Fredy Ferdian Isnartanto said the four officers, all members of Indonesia's military intelligence unit (BAIS), were found guilty on charges of serious premeditated assault after attacking Andrie Yunus, a deputy coordinator with the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, a rights group also known as KontraS.
Second Sgt. Edi Sudarko, who was found guilty of inciting the other defendants to commit the attack, was sentenced to three years in jail, while First Lt. Budhi Hariyanto Widhi, who came with the idea to use acid and prepared the liquid, received two and a half years. Both were also dishonorably discharged from the military.
Capt. Nandala Dwi Prasetyo and First Lt. Sami Lakka, both of whom were found guilty of tracking Andrie before the attack received two years and one and a half years, respectively.
Fredy said the attack was not influenced by any "chain of command."
Responding to the ruling, the defendants' lawyers said they would consider an appeal.
Prosecutors had previously demanded that all the defendants be sentenced to two and a half years.
The chief of the military's intelligence unit resigned in March in what a military spokesperson described as a form of responsibility for the attack.
The panel of judges found the defendants prepared the attack because they were "offended and outraged" by Andrie, who interrupted a closed-door parliamentary meeting in a hotel attended by military officials.
The meeting last year concerned revisions to military law that would allow more soldiers to be appointed to civilian posts.
The court also found the defendants were outraged because Andrie had accused the military of being the mastermind behind nationwide protests in August last year.
The assault inflicted burns on 20 percent of Andrie's body and left his right eye heavily damaged.
Amnesty International Indonesia said the verdict brings no justice to Andrie and "fails to duly consider the involvement of other actors or the chain of command."
