Light sentences in an activist's acid attack raise doubts

A military court in Jakarta has sentenced four soldiers over an acid attack that nearly blinded a human rights activist in one eye, but the verdicts have drawn sharp criticism as too soft and too narrow. On 10 June 2026, the court gave four members of the military intelligence agency, BAIS, between 1.5 and 3 years in prison for the attack on Andrie Yunus. Writing for Indonesia at Melbourne, Usman Hamid and Haeril Halim argue the trial protected the institution more than it delivered justice.

The problems they list are striking. Official investigators, including the national rights body Komnas HAM, identified at least 16 people involved, yet only four faced trial. Two of the four convicted soldiers were later allowed to return to military service after their prison terms. The judges also ordered the destruction of key evidence, including the acid bottle and a flash drive holding a video from the scene.

There is a wider pattern too. The authors describe a coordinated online campaign against Andrie that began the day after he protested, using more than 31 accounts linked to 27 military units, and they cite rights groups recording repeated surveillance of activist offices. Andrie had been a target, they say, for opposing the military's growing role and for helping challenge a revised military law in court.

Why it matters

For activists, journalists, and anyone who criticises those in power, a case like this signals how much protection they can expect, and here the message is discouraging. When only a few low-level people are punished and evidence is destroyed, it becomes easier for such attacks to happen again. Watch whether higher or civilian courts reopen the case, or whether it stands as the final word.