JAKARTA: Pressure has grown for a transparent investigation of the acid attack on Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) activist Andrie Yunus amid allegations of a systemic operation behind the assault.
An independent investigation done by civil society coalition the Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD) has found at least 16 persons were involved in the attack, indicating a systemic operation the activists refer to as an “intelligence operation”.
These groups later allegedly committed a “premeditated and trained operation”, which involved activities such as surveillance and shadowing that led to the attack and a well-organised escape, the coalition concluded after analysing various security cameras recording events hours before the assault.
In addition to the 16 perpetrators on the ground, the coalition also suspects the involvement of “intellectual actors”, said Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) director Fadhil Alfathan on Monday (March 30), without disclosing further details on the investigation, citing security reasons.
Given the number of people allegedly involved in the plot, the coalition said, “it is unlikely the attack was carried out by someone with limited power”, said Fadhil, who is also a TAUD member, during a press briefing on Monday.
“It must have involved a certain institution, a big one, carried out under a certain chain of command.”
He said the investigation to uncover the chain of command behind the attack needs to be conducted transparently and quickly to prevent obstruction by powerful figures who might disrupt the probe.
So far, the investigation by the National Military Police Headquarters (Puspom TNI) has only led to four suspected perpetrators, identified by their initials NDP, SL, BHW and ES, reportedly members of the Indonesian Military’s (TNI) Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS).
All four suspects have been reportedly apprehended and are under investigation, although the TNI did not disclose more details about the arrest.
In a separate investigation, the Jakarta Police only revealed two suspects identified as BHC and MAK, although their ties to the military suspects remain unclear.
With details about Puspom TNI and the Jakarta Police’s probe limited, TAUD urges President Prabowo Subianto to establish an independent fact-finding team consisting of experts and civilians to support the police investigation.
“Because this was an intelligence operation, we suspect there were intellectual actors behind it. The investigation cannot only focus on perpetrators on the ground, therefore this requires more than just the ordinary law enforcement process,” said Lakso Anindito of TAUD at Monday’s press briefing.
Andrie was attacked by unidentified people who hurled acid on him when he was riding his motorcycle in Jakarta on March 12. He is well known as a human rights activist who opposes the military’s involvement in civilian affairs in Indonesia
On Tuesday, House Commission III overseeing law enforcement held a meeting with representatives from Kontras and the Jakarta Police to discuss the investigation into the acid attack.
The Jakarta Police’s general crimes investigation director Iman Imanuddin said his office had transferred all of its case files on Andrie’s attack to the Puspom TNI. “Until the handover, we had not found any involvement of civilian suspects,” Iman said.
While conveying his disappointment in the police for their handing of the case with Puspom TNI, Kontras coordinator Dimas Bagus Arya reiterated the call for an independent fact-finding team while also urging law enforcement officers to bring suspects of Andrie’s acid attack case to civilian court.
Several Commission III members attending the meeting concurred with the call for the fact-finding team, with Benny K. Harman of the Democratic Party calling the acid attack “a political operation to invoke fear among civilians”.
Another Commission III member, Mercy Barends of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), also urged the case to be brought to civilian trial instead of the military justice system.
“We fully support the process in the civilian trial to undergo in parallel with the investigation in the Puspom TNI,” Mercy said.
Indria Fernida of Kontras said at Tuesday’s meeting that Andrie is still in very poor condition: “It has been more than two weeks since the attack, and he is still in the intensive care unit. The treatment is intensive for his eyes and burns.” - The Jakarta Post/ANN
