Indonesia Hunts Four Suspects Over Acid Attack on Activist
Last update: March 16, 2026
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Rights defender critical of military’s growing influence suffers serious injuries.
Indonesian police are searching for four suspects linked to an acid attack that seriously injured an activist known for criticizing the military’s expanding role in government, an official said Monday.
Andrie Yunus, deputy coordinator of the KontraS human rights group, was riding a motorbike last week when two men on a scooter approached him and one of them threw acid, the organization said in a statement.
He sustained injuries to his face, one eye, his hands and torso.
CCTV footage showed four suspects riding two scooters following Andrie before the assault, Jakarta police official Iman Imanuddin told reporters on Monday.
Investigators are carrying out forensic tests on a motorcycle helmet and a container believed to have held the acid used in the attack, he added.
Jane Rosalina, a KontraS representative, said Andrie’s most serious injury was to his right eye and that he was receiving specialised treatment in intensive care.
Andrie has been an outspoken critic of efforts to expand the military’s influence in Indonesia’s government. He had just finished recording a podcast on the issue when he was attacked.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk last week said he was “deeply concerned” by the “horrific acid attack”.
“Those responsible for this cowardly act of violence must be held to account,” he wrote on X.
Human rights defenders “must be protected in their vital work and able to raise without fear issues of public concern,” Turk added.
UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders Mary Lawlor also called for a thorough investigation into what she described as an “unacceptable” attack.
Indonesia’s minister for law and human rights, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, vowed that those responsible would be brought to justice.
In its latest report on Indonesia, Human Rights Watch said the country “has undergone further democratic backsliding, crackdowns on protests, media censorship, and intimidation of activists” under President Prabowo Subianto, a former general who took office in 2024.
