Activist Andrie Yunus Victim of Acid Attack ---- On the evening of Thursday, March 12, 27-year-old activist Andrie Yunus, a well-known figure among Indonesian youth protesters, was the victim of a vicious assassination attempt. ---- The scene, filmed on the street by CCTV cameras, took place in the Salemba district of central Jakarta. After following him for a while, two men on a scooter, wearing helmets, sprayed a caustic liquid in Andrie's face as he was riding in the opposite direction. He fell from his vehicle, wracked with pain, and tried to tear off his clothes.
The activist had just left the office of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), where he was recording a podcast on "Remilitarization and Judicial Control in Indonesia," addressing the recent revision of the military law against which he had publicly campaigned.
Immediately rescued by passersby, Andrie was rushed to Cipto Mangunkusumo Central Hospital. While his condition is stable and his life is not in danger, the corrosive liquid caused severe burns over more than 20% of his body, particularly on the right side of his face, his chest, and his hands. Even more seriously, the acid caused severe chemical trauma to his right eye, resulting in a dramatic decrease in vision and damage to the surface of the cornea.
Taking the Risk of Speaking Out Against the Military
It must be said that Andrie's public stances are deeply unsettling to those in power-especially the military. He is, among other things, the deputy coordinator of KontraS (Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence), a civil society organization (CSO) established in 1998 that monitors the human rights situation in Indonesia, documents cases of enforced disappearances and state violence, and petitions for civilian control of the military.
Unsurprisingly, the organization had already been targeted numerous times. Its founder, Munir Said Thalib, was himself poisoned with arsenic in 2004 on a Jakarta-Amsterdam flight. The perpetrator turned out to be a member of the Indonesian National Intelligence Organization (BIN), acting on the orders of the department's head himself: General Muhamad Abdullah Hendropriyono.
Through KontraS, Andrie campaigned fervently against the increasing interference of the military in civilian affairs. He notably made headlines in March of last year when he disrupted a closed-door meeting of the House of Representatives aimed at finalizing the draft amendment to the 2004 Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) Law.
His actions highlighted the legislators' attempt to quietly pass a significant law expanding the military's role in civilian affairs, without prior review or public participation. This law allows active-duty officers to hold positions in numerous public institutions without having to resign. The ratification of this law in March 2025 significantly expanded the military's role in civilian and political affairs.
Furthermore, this activist commitment is not the only thing that may have earned him the enmity of the Indonesian elite, since Andrie Yunus was also a member of the Fact-Finding Commission (KPF), which, in recent months, conducted an independent investigation into the bloody crackdowns of August and September 2025.
The army takes over to better suppress his involvement
Very quickly, an investigation is launched, and CCTV footage is reviewed. Images circulate, particularly online and on social media, and several photos reveal the faces of the attackers. Four suspects are quickly identified, arrested, and then identified as... members of the military: they are reportedly four military officers attached to the Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS) of the Indonesian Air Force and Navy.
Indeed, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, reacted swiftly, declaring the incident "an attack on democracy" and promising that "whoever the perpetrators are and whatever their motives. Such acts of violence are intolerable and must be prosecuted according to the law," he stated in a press release issued the day after the attack (March 13).
And yet, the suspects will ultimately be investigated by the military police and tried by a military court for "aggravated assault," a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison.
In a statement released on Wednesday, March 18, numerous civil society organizations-including Kontras and Amnesty International Indonesia-protested the Indonesian Armed Forces' resumption of the investigation, declaring that an internal military inquiry would "downplay the seriousness and systemic nature" of the attack and risk shielding high-ranking officials from accountability.
Today, the four suspects are in custody: the thugs who, at the bottom of the chain, are directly implicated in the acid attack against Andrie. Certainly, but when will the true masterminds behind this assassination attempt be identified and apprehended?
On Thursday, March 19, President Prabowo Subianto-a notorious military man accused of crimes against humanity-personally addressed the issue. Feigning concern, he promised "a thorough investigation, reaching the masterminds of the operation," and ordered the authorities to "unmask the instigators of the attack." Insisting that "those who ordered it, those who paid for it, must be identified," he even dared to specify that "there will be no impunity."
In a country riddled with corruption and compromise, where impunity reigns for the political and military elites, and where state violence spews its deadly repression against the dignified revolt of the street... we dare to doubt the sincerity of the butcher-president Prabowo. All the more so since the assassination attempt appears to have been carried out by the army.
https://monde-libertaire.net/?articlen=8891
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Link: (en) France, Monde Libertaire - Indonesia: When the Army Mutilates Its Critics (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]
Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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