The human rights organization KontraS (Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence) has alleged that at least 16 individuals were involved in the acid attack on its Deputy Coordinator, Andrie Yunus. This figure, according to Dimas Bagus Arya, Coordinator of the KontraS Working Body, does not even account for the intellectual masterminds behind the heinous act.
During a recent parliamentary hearing with DPR Commission III on Tuesday, March 31, Dimas highlighted a significant disparity between official reports and KontraS’s independent findings. “There are two differing versions from the police and the TNI (Indonesian National Armed Forces), but our findings, from the Advocacy Team for Democracy, indicate that this operation involved 16 people or more,” Dimas stated. He further elaborated that this extensive number was derived from a meticulous reconstruction of events, including thorough CCTV analysis and the gathering of crucial evidence through various open-source intelligence (OSINT) tools. Even with these comprehensive efforts, the search for those who orchestrated the attack continues.
Given the substantial number of alleged perpetrators, KontraS firmly believes that the incident was not an isolated act but a systematic operation. Dimas emphasized this assessment, stating, “What does this mean? We feel that beyond the potentially higher number of perpetrators, this constitutes a series of systematic actions, which in our terminology, we describe as an intelligence operation.” This classification underscores the organization’s conviction that the attack was a calculated and coordinated effort.
Further revelations from Dimas unveiled that Andrie Yunus was not the sole target of this elaborate scheme. The operation, which KontraS has named “Operasi Sadang” (Sadang Operation), began with meticulous planning and extensive preparatory actions. These included sustained surveillance, stalking, and close monitoring carried out by the perpetrators—or “unidentified individuals” (OTK) as they were initially identified—against Andrie Yunus. The information received by KontraS suggests that several other individuals were also targeted in this operation, a detail previously mentioned by another spokesperson, Ms. Indri.
The brutal acid attack itself occurred on Thursday evening, March 12, when Andrie Yunus was assaulted by two unknown assailants while passing through the Salemba area of Central Jakarta. In a significant development, the Puspom TNI (TNI Military Police Center) later confirmed the involvement of three officers and one non-commissioned officer from BAIS TNI (TNI Strategic Intelligence Agency) as suspected perpetrators in the attack. This acknowledgment led to Lieutenant General Yudi Abrimantyo resigning from his position as Head of BAIS, taking responsibility for the incident.
As a tragic consequence of the attack, Andrie Yunus sustained severe injuries, including 24 percent burns across his body. The most critical damage was inflicted upon his right eye, which KontraS warns is at significant risk of permanent disability, highlighting the devastating and long-lasting impact of this targeted act of violence.