Jakarta – The Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD) officially reported alleged violations of the code of ethics and behavioural guidelines by the panel of judges at the Jakarta II-08 Military Court, which is currently hearing the case of the acid attack on Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Deputy Coordinator Andrie Yunus.
The report was submitted to the Supreme Court (MA) and the Judicial Commission (KY) today, Monday May 18.
"Today, we, the Advocacy Team for Democracy, filed a complaint about violations of the code of ethics and behavioural guidelines by the three judges yes, Bapak [Mr] Freddy Ferdian Isnartanto, Irwan Tasri, and Zainal Abidin as judges at the Jakarta II-08 Military Court Jakarta who are examining the case of the acid attack on Saudara [Brother] Andrie Yunus", said Daniel Winarta from the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), which is part of TAUD, at the Supreme Court building in Jakarta.
TAUD included a number of forms of violations by the panel of judges in the report. Some of these include when the judge held items or evidence without gloves, statements about the perpetrators being "stupid" in court and attempts that seemed aimed at forcing Yunus to appear in court and give testimony.
"We feel these are code of ethics violations as regulated under the code of ethics and guidelines of conduct for judges", said Winarta.
"We are asking the Supreme Court Supervisory Board, the chair of the Supreme Court Supervisory Chamber, and the Judicial Commission to summon and examine the judges, provide written warnings and verbal warnings, and also conduct direct monitoring of the ongoing military justice process", he continued.
So far, four soldiers from the Indonesian Military's (TNI) Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS) Headquarters Detachment (Denma) have been inducted for dousing Yunus with acid.
They are Second Sergeant Edi Sudarko, First Lieutenant Budhi Hariyanto Widhi, Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetyo and First Lieutenant Sami Lakka.
Based on the indictment, the reason the defendants doused Yunus with acid was because they were annoyed with his actions in often raising the issue of militarism.
This included the actions of Yunus together with the Civil Society Coalition in interrupting a closed meeting between the House of Representatives (DPR) and the TNI discussing the Draft Law on the TNI at the Fairmont Hotel in Jakarta in March 2025.
"With this incident, the defendants considered that Saudara Andrie Yunus had insulted the TNI as an institution, even trampled on the TNI as an institution", said the military prosecutor (Oditur) when reading the indictment at an earlier hearing.
The defendants are charged with violating Article 469 paragraph 1 subsidiary Article 468 paragraph 1 plus subsidiary Article 467 paragraph 1 in conjunction with paragraph 2 in conjunction with Article 20 letter C of Law Number 1/2023 on the Criminal Code (KUHP).
Previously, Judicial Commission admitted that it was investigating allegations of ethical violations in the trial of the soldiers, which has been in the public spotlight.
"The Judicial Commission is looking at all possibilities to follow up on alleged violations of the Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct for Judges", said Commission member Abhan when contacted on Tuesday May 12.
The Judicial Commission, said Abhan, is paying attention to the trial process in this case and deployed a team since the second hearing on May 6 to monitor the progress of the trial.
During the monitoring process, the Commission has recorded a number of incidents that have been in the spotlight. Abhan said that they would study and delve into these both textually and contextually.
Nevertheless, Abhan asserted that the Commission would still respect the independence of judges. Although on the other hand, the Commission basically has the authority to examine all judicial work.
"The Judicial Commission will carry out further investigation, currently we cannot provide any justification whatsoever about violations of the Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct for Judges", said Abhan. (ryn/kid)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "TAUD Resmi Adukan Hakim Militer Kasus Andrie Yunus ke MA & KY".]
