Hard Water Strike, Mirror of State Accountability Crisis

BANTUL, VIVA Jogja  – The case of watering hard water against an activist in Bantul sparked deep concern from Bentala Indra Nusantara Advocate (BINA). This advocate organization considers the event not just a criminal act, but a serious threat to civil liberties and the quality of democracy in Indonesia. BINA's Secretary-General, Chetta Shatia Dwitama, asserted that the attacks on activists were a systematic attempt to silence critical voices that the state should be protecting. “This is no ordinary crime, this is an attack on democracy. The state should not be silent," he said when met in Bantul, Wednesday (08/04/2026). Chetta added, the alleged involvement of state officials in this case made it a crisis of institutional accountability. According to him, this is a strong alarm for the rule of law in Indonesia. "There should be no tolerance for abuse of power," he stressed. Legally, BINA admitted that the handling of cases through military justice had a legitimate basis, referring to Law Number 31 of 1997 concerning Military Justice. However, the mechanism is considered to have minimal public supervision if the community does not actively follow its development. Chetta emphasized that the principle of legal subjects should be the main reference. This means that civilians who litigate with TNI members remain on trial in the general court, while TNI individuals who commit criminal acts are processed through Puspom and Military Courts. Read more at: https://jogja.viva.co. id/warta/8295-attack-water-hard-mirror-crisis-accountability-stateBy: Fuska Sani Evani