JAKARTA - The General Chair of the Indonesian Cyber Media Network (JMSI) Teguh Santosa strongly condemned the act of pouring hard water on the Deputy Coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS), Andrie Yunus. He assessed that the incident was not just a normal act of violence, but a serious attack on the values of democracy and the enforcement of human rights (HAM) in Indonesia.
Teguh emphasized that human rights activists work for the public and state interests. Therefore, acts of terror against them are tantamount to threatening the principles of democracy guaranteed by the constitution.
"The act of spraying hard water against Andrie Yunus from KontraS is an attack on democracy itself. Human rights activists work for the people's interests and the interests of the state, because the enforcement of human rights and democracy is a constitutional mandate," said Teguh Santosa in his statement, quoted, Saturday (14/3/2026).
Violence is Unacceptable
According to Teguh, democracy requires all parties to uphold mutual respect, including when there are differences of opinion. Violence against democracy and human rights activists cannot be justified under any circumstances.
"Attacking democracy and human rights activists, even if they disagree with them, is still unjustifiable. In a democracy, everyone should adhere to the principle of respecting differences and diversity because everyone is doing it for the common good, not for personal interests," he said.
He also reminded that democracy can only run healthy if civil liberties, including the freedom to criticize, are protected by the state.
Ask the Police to Investigate Intellectual Actors
Teguh asked law enforcement officials, especially the Indonesian National Police (Polri), to thoroughly investigate the case until they found the perpetrators, motives, and parties behind the incident.
"I ask law enforcement, especially the National Police, to ensure that the investigation is thorough to the intellectual actors, not just the perpetrators of the attack on the ground," he said.
According to him, the pattern of attacks that occurred showed indications of an organized planning so that the law enforcement process should not stop at the field perpetrators alone.
"The pattern of attacks carried out seems to be planned and organized, so that the disclosure of this incident should not stop at the executor level, but must also reveal the intellectual actors behind it," said Teguh.
He added that he had coordinated with the police regarding the handling of the case and hoped that the investigation would run quickly and transparently so that the public could get legal certainty.
Chronology of the Attack
Based on the chronology compiled by KontraS, a few days before the incident, Andrie Yunus received a number of calls from unknown numbers on March 9 to 12, 2026. Some of the numbers are suspected to be related to spam fraud, online loans, to m-banking modus.
On the day of the incident, Andrie was active as usual and left the KontraS office for the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS) office in the Menteng area around 15.30 WIB to attend a meeting.
After the agenda, at around 19.45 WIB, he headed to the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) office on Jalan Diponegoro, Menteng, to record a podcast with YLBHI staff, Zainal Arifin. The discussion raised the theme "Remiliterisasi dan Judicial Review UU TNI".
The recording of the broadcast was completed at around 20.00 WIB. However, Andrie was still at the YLBHI office until around 23.00 WIB before finally returning home on a motorcycle after filling up at the Cikini gas station.
Around 23.37 WIB, while passing on Jalan Salemba I on a yellow Yamaha Aerox motorcycle, Andrie saw a motorcycle being driven by two people against the direction in the Talang area.
The motorcycle is suspected to be a Honda Beat or old model Honda Vario in black with a white panel on the back. When the two vehicles crossed, one of the perpetrators immediately poured a liquid that was suspected to be hard water towards the victim.
The liquid hit Andrie's right side of the body, especially the eyes, face, chest, and hands. The victim immediately screamed in pain until he stopped his motorcycle and fell.
According to KontraS' statement, Andrie shouted for help while shouting, "AAAH, AAHH, AAHH, HOT... HOT!" then shouted "HARD WATER, HARD WATER," until the surrounding residents arrived.
As a result of the liquid, the victim's clothes were even said to have melted. In a state of pain, Andrie tried to take his motorcycle and bag before leaving the damaged clothes at the location. Meanwhile, the perpetrators immediately fled to Jalan Salemba Raya.
When fleeing, the perpetrator allegedly dropped a glass made of stainless steel which was used to carry the liquid.
The victim was treated intensively.
Not long after the incident, at around 23.38 WIB, Andrie again drove his motorcycle to his rented house in Menteng area through the back road.
Two of his friends, Rizky and Hardingga, then took the victim to the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM) using a motorcycle. Andrie arrived at the hospital around 23.48 WIB and immediately received medical treatment.
Based on the initial diagnosis of the team of doctors, Andrie suffered burns of around 24 percent. Currently he is being treated by six specialists, including ophthalmologists, ENT, nerves, bones, thoraxes, internal organs, and skin.
The victim is also scheduled to undergo eye surgery in the form of an amniotic membrane transplant to repair damaged eye tissue.
A representative of KontraS, Dimas, confirmed that no victim's belongings were lost in the incident. Therefore, he urged the police to immediately investigate the perpetrators and reveal the motive for the attack on the human rights activist.
"This attack has the potential to be a serious threat to the safety of human rights defenders in Indonesia," he concluded.
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