TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Muhammad Isnur, the lawyer of KPK's senior investigator Novel Baswedan, suspects there is a 'big man' protecting the people who attacked his client.

"That's what Novel suspects. He suspects that the person backing his attackers is a general; and that was why [the attackers] had the guts to return and show their presence," Isnur told Tempo on Tuesday, June 19.

Novel had said that he still received terrors after returning from Singapore to get an eye surgery. He said that he saw the alleged attackers across his house when he arrived in Indonesia on February 22, 2018.

"When I got home on February 22, the attacker was there," he said in June 17.

Isnur said that the attackers came back to Novel's residence with a motive to terrorize the KPK investigator. Isnur suspects that the attackers wanted to challenge Novel and at the same time giving a message—saying that the case cannot be solved.

“It's as if the guy wants to say 'there's nothing you can do about it' which is part of a psychological warfare,” he said.

He said that the fact these attackers are still on the loose is harassment against the law.

Novel Baswedan was attacked on April 11 this year. He had hydrochloric acid (HCl) thrown at him by two unidentified men when he had just finished a morning prayer at a mosque near his home in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta. The attack left injuries on his face and left eye.

To date, the police have not been able to capture the attackers.

For a number of times, Novel had mentioned his suspicions that a police general is behind the attack on him. In an interview withTempo in June 2017, Novel said the general played a role in obscuring facts and evidence of the attack.

“This information is legit—although I cannot tell you how I obtain it," Novel had said.

M ROSSENO AJI