Antara News·Indonesia·Saturday, September 5, 2026 at 12:11 PM

Govt suggests cassation appeal over an activist's acid attack case

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Fath Putra Mulya, Nabil Ihsan

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's Minister of Human Rights, Natalius Pigai, suggested legal team of Andrie Yunus, an anti-militarism activist who were targeted by acid attack, file a cassation appeal after a military court handed down a lenient sentence for the attackers.

"I ask his legal team to pursue a cassation and, if possible, a judicial review (extraordinary remedies for the sentence)," Pigai said in Jakarta on Saturday.

Jakarta II-06 High Military Court judges, in their decision on August 20, imposed a lighter sentence of than a prosecution had sought for the two principal perpetrators in the acid attack. The judges also annulled their dishonorable discharge from the military.

The judges cut the sentence of Second Sergeant Edi Sudarko from 3 years in prison to 2.5 years and First Lieutenant Budhi Hariyanto Widhi from 2.5 years to 2 years.

Although respecting the judge's decision, Minister Pigai believed justice should be fulfilled for Andrie Yunus, as the acid attack victim, instead of the attackers.

Moreover, the initial verdict had proven the defendants' fault in attacking the activist, who is an executive of the human rights organisation Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS).

Pigai believed the initial decision on dishonorable discharge against the defendants from the military is also appropriate, as their action harmed the dignity of the state and the military institution.

"Their actions were carried out when the government was working to maintain human rights, democracy, and civil supremacy," Pigai said.

Despite reducing the sentence of the two main perpetrators, the military appeals court decided to maintain the sentence of the two other accomplices in the acid attack.

Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetya was sentenced to two years in prison, while First Lieutenant Sami Lakka received a prison sentence of one and a half years. Their sentences were unchanged in the appeal.

The assault took place on March 12 in Central Jakarta, as Yunus was riding a motorcycle after attending a podcast on militarism and the judicial review of military law, organised by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI).

Yunus was promptly rushed to a hospital for treatment.

Initial CCTV footage showed the assailants approaching Yunus on a motorbike before throwing corrosive liquid at him, leaving the activist with burns on his limbs and visual impairment.

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