Adhyasta Dirgantara, Ardito Ramadhan, Jakarta – The Civil Society Coalition held a protest action at the entrance to the Presidential Palace Complex in Central Jakarta on Friday April 17.
They were asking Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to form a Joint Fact-Finding Team (TGPF) to investigate in the acid attack on Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) activist Andrie Yunus.
"We are asking the state authorities to form a Joint Fact-Finding Team. Because in this case there are many political obstacles as well as obstacles of a legal formal nature", said Kontras Coordinator Dimas Bagus Arya on Friday.
Arya also questioned remarks by the military prosecutor (oditur) who claimed that the motive of the soldiers from the Indonesian Militar's (TNI) Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS) for attacking Yunus was a personal vendetta.
"We can say that the perpetrators identified by the Advocacy Team [for Democracy, TAUD], based on investigations, construction, reconstruction of CCTV footage, are 16 perpetrators, not four people", he said.
The action participants unfurled a black banner that read, "President, Form a TGPF Immediately! Try the Perpetrators in a Public Court, Not a Military Court". There was also a black banner that read "We Want a Knightly President".
The action was temporarily blocked by internal security officers at the Palace. The security officers said that the action did not have a permit and blocked vehicles from entering.
"Do you know the law?" shouted a security officer. Despite this, Arya and his friends held their ground to voice their demands for Prabowo.
Later, several Civil Society Coalition representatives were invited into the State Secretariat building where they also submitted a letter to Prabowo urging the formation of a TGPF to investigate the Andrie Yunus case.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Koalisi Sipil Gelar Aksi di Gerbang Istana, Desak Prabowo Bentuk TGPF Kasus Andrie Yunus".]