Trial opens for soldiers accused of an acid attack on an activist

The trial of four soldiers accused of throwing acid at a human rights activist opened in a Jakarta military court on 29 April 2026, reviving fears about whether Indonesia's military can be held to account. As the Associated Press reports, the victim, Andrie Yunus, a 27-year-old leader at the rights group KontraS, was attacked on 12 March 2026 while riding his motorbike in central Jakarta. The acid burned about a fifth of his body and destroyed much of the sight in one eye, days after he criticised the military's growing role in civilian life on a podcast.

The four defendants, all members of the military's Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS), face charges of premeditated assault, which carries up to 12 years in prison. Prosecutors described their motive as "personal," saying they wanted to "teach him a lesson." Rights groups were not convinced. Usman Hamid of Amnesty International Indonesia said the case had been "narrowed to just four individuals, without transparency," while the UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, called the attack a "cowardly act of violence."

The trial is being watched closely because it plays out in a military court, which critics say often lacks the independence to judge soldiers fairly. It also comes as President Prabowo Subianto, a former general, expands the military's role in civilian affairs, rolling back limits set after 1998. For many, the case is a test of whether that growing power comes with any real accountability.

Why it matters

For activists and journalists, this case signals how much protection they can expect when they criticise powerful institutions, and whether attacks on them are truly punished. Trying soldiers in a military court, rather than an open civilian one, raises doubts about fairness. Watch whether the case widens beyond four low-level suspects, and what sentences, if any, follow.