Jakarta – The Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD) has strongly criticised a military court hearing the case of four Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers accused of dousing rights activist Adrie Yunus with acid after the military prosecutor (Oditur) demanded a sentence of 2.5 years for the four.
TAUD said the sentence demand smacks strongly of impunity and is far from a sense of justice.
"This demand is far from a sense of justice for the victim and the aroma of impunity feels strong and unfortunately this stigma continues to stick to the military court's jurisdiction in trying its own members involved in serious crimes against civilians", TAUD asserted in an official statement on Wednesday June 3.
TAUD stated that this case echoes other cases in military courts that have resulted in light charges and sentences for TNI soldiers who commit crimes.
One such similar case was when the Medan High Military Court I upheld the verdict against a TNI member, Sergeant Riza Pahlevi, who assaulted a 15-year-old junior high school student resulting in their death. Pahlevi was still only sentenced to 10 months in prison, as per the verdict of the Medan Military Court 1-02 on October 20, 2025.
These cases, according to TAUD, reinforce the suspicion that military justice functions more as a protection mechanism for TNI soldiers than as an independent, accountable and impartial instrument of law enforcement.
"Furthermore, this situation contradicts the claim by Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin who said that military justice has high law enforcement standards", wrote TAUD.
"That is why from the outset, we have fully supported Andrie Yunus' firm stance in rejecting the jurisdiction of military justice in trying the attack case against him. Moreover in this case, both the defendants, the Oditur, and the panel of judges are part of the same institution, namely the TNI."
TAUD also highlighted the absence of additional criminal charges in the form of dismissal or discharge from military service.
The absence of demands for dismissal reinforces the suspicion that the TNI's institutional protection of its soldiers is still working in this case.
According to TAUD, the absence of a demand for the soldiers' dismissal further strengthens the suspicion that the acid attack on Yunus had broader connections and interests, and was not just a personal act.
The light sentence demanded by the prosecutor, TAUD said, is evidence that military justice is a parasite on judicial reform, which has been on the Supreme Court's agenda and fought for since 1998.
TAUD believes it is crucial to immediately reform military justice, particularly regarding jurisdictional limitations. Political law post reformasi – the political reform process that began in 1998 – stipulates that military justice jurisdiction should only cover military crimes, not all crimes committed by TNI soldiers.
"General crimes committed by TNI soldiers must be tried in general courts. The light sentences demanded for the defendants further demonstrates the urgency of military justice reform by immediately revising Law Number 31/1997 on Military Justice", asserted TAUD.
TAUD is urging President Prabowo Subianto to order the national police chief (Kapolri) to open an investigation into the four TNI soldiers who doused Yunus with acid.
The President also needs to immediately push for a revision of the Military Court Law to accommodate the jurisdiction of general courts over general crimes committed by TNI soldiers.
"We are also pushing the need for an independent investigation process by establishing a Joint Fact-Finding Team (TGPF) including to conduct a process of military management improvement which has been a source of public concern", they said.
The military prosecutor has demanded that the four members of the TNI Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS) Headquarters Detachment who attacked Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) activists Yunus be sentenced to two years and six months in prison.
The four BAIS defendants are Second Sergeant Edi Sudarko, First Lieutenant Budhi Hariyanto Widhi, Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetyo and First Lieutenant Sami Lakka.
"We request that the Jakarta Military Court II-08 impose criminal penalties on the defendants", said the Jakarta Military Prosecutor II-07 when reading the criminal indictment at the Jakarta Military Court II-08 on Wednesday morning. (team/wis)
The TAUD statement in Bahasa can be read here: https://www.amnesty.id/kabar-terbaru/siaran-pers/taud-tuntutan-ringan-oditur-militer-tegaskan-peradilan-sandiwara-kasus-andrie-yunus-reformasi-peradilan-militer-sekarang-juga/06/2026/
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "TAUD Kecam Peradilan Militer Tuntut Ringan 4 TNI Kasus Andrie Yunus".]