Acid attack against activist: Indonesian soldiers stand trial

A trial opened Wednesday for four Indonesian service members accused of carrying out an acid attack on a prominent human rights activist, in a case that has reignited concerns about military impunity.

Three Indonesian navy marines and one air force officer, all assigned to military intelligence, are charged with serious premeditated assault in the March attack on Andrie Yunus, a human rights lawyer and senior activist with the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence, known as KontraS.

Those on trial in a military court in Jakarta are Sgt Edi Sudarko; First Lt Budhi Hariyanto Widhi Cahyono; Capt. Nandala Dwi Prasetya; and Air Force First Lt Sami Lakka.

The charges carry a sentence of up to 12 years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors allege the four men acted together but described the motive as personal. They said the defendants attacked Yunus

with acid “to teach him a lesson and deter him from making disparaging remarks about the TNI.”

“The actions of the defendants who threw chemical liquid on Andrie Yunus, resulting in the loss of sight in his right eye and severe burns with no hope of complete recovery, were inappropriate actions for members of the TNI,” Iswandi told the court.

Human rights groups criticized both the personal-motive narrative and the decision to try the case in a military court instead of a civilian one.